Islamic Jihad threatens Israel

July 10, 2018  — Israel National News reports: “The Islamic Jihad terrorist organization, Hamas’ main ally in Gaza, on Monday blasted the Israeli government’s decision to close the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza, saying it was tantamount to ‘a declaration of war against the Palestinians.’

An official statement by the Islamic Jihad said that ‘in view of the aggressive policy, we see the declaration of the Israeli terror government and its army as a declaration of war against the Palestinians. We will not remain helpless and respond.’…”  (They may threaten Israel, but Psalm 121 states: “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.  My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.  He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.  Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.  The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.  The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.   The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.  The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.”  Notice especially verse 4 – “Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.”  During his confrontation with the prophets of Baal, Elijah mocked the prophets after they were unable to get a response from Baal.  I Kings 18:27 states: “And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.”  God does not sleep, and He will preserve Israel.)

Top Iranian general: Forces in Syria ‘awaiting orders’ to destroy Israel

July 9, 2018 — The Times of Israel reports: “In a recent speech, the deputy commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) boasted that the ‘Islamic army in Syria’ in the Golan Heights was awaiting orders to eradicate the ‘evil regime’ of Israel.

He also said the Tehran-backed Hezbollah terror group had 100,000 missiles aimed at Israel.

‘We are creating might in Lebanon because we want to fight our enemy from there with all our strength,’ he stated. ‘Hezbollah today has tremendous might on the ground that can on its own break the Zionist regime. The Zionist regime has no strategic-defensive depth.’

In the speech for the anti-Israel al-Quds Day in June, translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Hossein Salami said that the dangers Israel faces today are greater than at any time in history…”  (Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.  He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.  Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.  Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.  I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.  Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.  Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.  Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.  Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him” – Psalm 2:1-12.)

Report: Israel hits Iranian forces in Syria

July 9, 2018 — Israel National News reports: “A Syrian airbase used by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard was targeted in a series of airstrikes Sunday night, Arab media outlets have claimed.

According to a report by Syria’s state-controlled SANA news agency, the T-4 airbase in Syria was attacked by fighter planes which approached from the south.

The SANA report claimed that Syrian anti-air defense systems in the Homs area were activated in response to the attack, and that the defense network had successfully thwarted the act of ‘aggression’. The report did not name the country responsible for the attack.

A Syrian military official was quoted by Al-Masdar as saying that Israeli fighter jets were responsible for the attack…”  (“The burden of Damascus.  Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap” – Isaiah 17:1.  Damascus is widely believed to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, but God’s Word declares that will end.)

Report: Israel world’s eighth most powerful nation

July 8, 2018 — Israel National News reports: “A prestigious US-based magazine said that Israel is the eighth most powerful nation in the world, ahead of international heavyweights such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Canada, and Singapore.

‘Israel, the only Jewish nation in the world, is a small country on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. For its relatively small size, the country has played a large role in global affairs. The country has a strong economy, landmarks of significance to several religions and strained relationships with many of its Arab neighbors,’ wrote the US News and World Report’s annual ranking of ‘Best Countries’…

Following Israel was Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and South Korea. Topping the list was the United States, Russia, and China.’…”  (“For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.  The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:  But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.  Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations” – Deuteronomy 7:6-9.  It is amazing that Israel, a nation whose land mass fits inside Lake Michigan, is considered the 8^th most powerful nation in the world.  See the next two reports.) 

Rabbinical Congress to Israeli government: ‘Show no restraint’

July 6, 2018 — Israel National News reports: “The Rabbinical Congress for Peace (RCP), comprised of over 400 rabbis, has issued a statement slamming the government for its complacency in dealing with the incendiary kites attacks launched from Gaza.

‘It’s appalling to see how the government repeats the same fatal mistake that’s led to so many casualties and victims in the past. Every time we show restraint in dealing with terrorists it doesn’t take long before we discover it becomes a stimulant for far worse and increased terror attacks.’…”

‘If Israel decides, it will crush Hamas’

July 22, 2018 — Israel National News reports: “Construction and Housing Minister Yoav Galant discussed this morning in an interview with Reshet Bet the escalation in the south last weekend.

‘We’re reacting harshly to aggression. We have to make sure the situation in the Gaza Strip is more economically stable, but the problem is that a terrorist organization has taken two million citizens hostage, and everything that enters Gaza is not disbursed in the right direction, but goes directly to Hamas. I know that billions of shekels went in Gaza’s favor and not a single factory was built. Instead tunnels were built and missiles were bought,’ Galant said.

He added ‘if Israel decides, it will crush Hamas … There’s an Iranian attempt to push Hamas into a war of attrition against Israel while the Iranians strengthen their economy and try to create a nuclear capability. Hamas is only an arm that comes out of the head that is in Iran.’…”

Abbas: Al-Quds is occupied

July 2, 2018 — Israel National News reports: “Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday accused Israel of implementing a racist discrimination regime similar to the apartheid regime in South Africa.

In a speech on behalf of Abbas, delivered by the PA official in charge of foreign affairs Riad al-Maliki at the African Union summit, the PA chairman said that the United States had taken an ‘aggressive and unilateral’ step when it recognized ‘occupied Jerusalem’ as the capital of the ‘Israeli occupation state’ and transferred its embassy from Tel Aviv to occupied ‘Al-Quds’ in defiance of the international position…”  (“…when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.  He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever…And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever” – II Samuel 7:12, 16.  “I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant,  Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations” – Psalms 89:3-4.  “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:  And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end”—Luke 1:32, 33.  Jerusalem is the Eternal Capital of Israel, and the Lord Jesus Christ will reign from David’s Throne in Jerusalem for ever and ever.  See the next report.)

 Jordan’s Abdullah stresses sanctity of east Jerusalem in Trump meeting

June 26, 2018 — The Jerusalem Post reports: “East Jerusalem must be the capital of a future independent Palestinian state, King Abdullah II of Jordan told US President Donald Trump on Monday in a meeting at the White House.

Speaking with the president days after hosting his top aides in Amman for talks on the administration’s upcoming Middle East peace plan, Abdullah told Trump that a traditional framework for a two-state solution remains a ‘foremost’ priority for Jordanians, according to a description of the meeting provided by their embassy in Washington…”