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You may view the 5 minute update this week via audio:
1) Listen to the audio
In this week’s 5 minute update, we focused on:
1) The current status of the Israel / PLO peace process
2) The prospects for war with Syria and Iran
The low level talks that took place between Israel and the PLO in Jordan ended on January 25. In submitting their parameters on borders and security, Israel said that in any final agreement that the large settlement blocks would become part of the current nation of Israel. The PLO reject this view. The PLO does not accept that the West Bank is disputed territory. Instead, they view it as being occupied. A Palestinian official said “If you put it in perspective, it is as if the West Bank were not occupied, just disputed, with both sides having legitimate claims, while the rest of Israel remains outside the dispute.” As a result, the PLO view that the large Israeli settlement blocks on the West Bank are a violation of international law. Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas, said: “Our starting point is the 1967 borders with minor swaps and theirs is the wall and settlements,” he said, referring to the separation barrier Israel has been building for the past decade along and inside the West Bank. The PLO believe that Israel wants the current West Bank separation wall which Israel said was built to keep PLO suicide bombers from entering Israel to be the eventual border of a PLO state. The PLO are demanding that Israel agree that direct negotiations should be based upon pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital and Israel should freeze construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Siding with the PLO, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was in Israel this past week and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urging Israel to halt settlement construction in the West Bank. In response, Netanyahu told Ban Ki-moon that a settlement freeze should be discussed in negotiations with Palestinians not as a precondition for such negotiations. “This issue is a part of the negotiations, it can’t be a precondition. Settlements are not the crux of the conflict but one of its outcomes. The conflict started 50 years before there were settlements”. Therefore, Israel will not agree to the PLO condition without first knowing if the PLO will agree to the security needs of Israel. Israel wants to continue talks with the PLO without any preconditions. The US and the EU are urging for talks to continue. The PLO will have a meeting with the Arab League in the next few days to discuss the current situation and to decide the PLO response to the current stalemate.
An agreement to divide Jerusalem and establish a PLO state is a tribulation event.
The link to these articles are as follows:
1) Israelis Say Settlements Must Be Part of Israeli State
2) Israel proposes West Bank barrier as border
3) Netanyahu pessimistic about future of peace talks
4) UN chief to Netanyahu: Israel must refrain from settlement construction
5) PM to Ban: Settlement freeze cannot be a precondition
The US, Britain, France, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar are trying to recruit generals within the Syrian army to come against Bashar Assad and overthrow him from power. This plan has been in operation since September, however, the West was concerned that seeking to overthrow Bashar Assad with his generals so soon after the overthrow of Qaddafi in Libya would destabalize the entire Middle East. It seems that this opportunity to overthrow Assad last fall is in danger with the present situation because Syria, Russian and Iran has now found out about the plan and Russia is working with the government of Bashar Assad to keep him in power. Syrian, Russian and Iranian strategists have used the last five months for a thorough study of the process leading to Qaddafi’s downfall and devised methods for preventing its repetition in Syria. Simulation exercises taught Assad how to crush and survive civilian protest movements. Assad was given layers of armor: an Iranian and Russian military umbrella, a ready supply of arms, ammo and replacement parts for his army and security forces and all the intelligence he needed. He got extra insurance from a Russian military Strike Group posted indefinitely at the base Syria granted Russia in the Mediterranean port of Tartus. The strike group led by Russia’s only aircraft carrier also includes a nuclear submarine and two missile destroyers. Moscow’s aid came with a diplomatic pledge to veto any UN Security Council resolution opening the door to outside armed intervention, commanding the Syrian ruler to step down or even condemning his tactics. Russia warned that removing Assad from power is against crossing a “red line” and said it wasn’t the job of the United Nations to dictate who stays in power and who goes.“ It would make no sense for Russia to drop its support for Assad,” said Ruslan Pukhov, head of the independent Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies. “He is Russia’s last remaining ally in the Middle East allowing it to preserve some influence in the region.” Therefore, Assad is fully aware of the Western conspiracy to turn his generals against him and is fully prepared to fight against it. Syrian opposition leader Colonel Riyad al-As’ad, commander of the Syria Free Army, said on Wednesday that around half of the country is no longer under the control of President Bashar Assad’s military forces. DEBKA is reporting that in confidential conversations with his advisers, Syrian President Bashar Assad is reported by Persian Gulf sources on January 31 to have threatened to start up armed hostilities against Israel in the Middle East if the UN Security Council endorses an Arab League proposal for him to step down and hand power to his deputy. Those sources told DEBKA that the heads of the Syrian armed forces and intelligence have been given their orders and other Middle East sources are reporting that the Lebanese Hizballah has also shown signs of military preparations in the last few days. Finally, Russia is prepared to stand militarily behind Assad as a Russian military flotilla including an aircraft carrier is stationed off the Syrian port of Tartus and is ready to engage in any military conflict to keep Assad in power.
A war with Syria where Damascus is destroyed (Isaiah 17) is a tribulation event.
The link to these articles is as follows:
1) A Western-Arab Undercover Exercise Afoot to Oust Bashar Assad
2) Russia backs Assad, last friend in Arab world
3) Syria: Russia warns against crossing ‘red line’
4) Russian EU envoy sees no chance for Syria resolution
5) Half of Syria no longer under Assad’s control, opposition says
6) Assad may start regional war if UN tells him to step down – Gulf sources
Russia continues to show its support for Iran. Russia rejects any new anti-Iran sanctions being passed through the UN Security Council. India says that it won’t participate in an oil embargo against Iran. Israel and the United States agree that Iran is about one year away from producing a nuclear bomb. Israel is concerned that recent oil embargo announced against Iran by the European Union which won’t go into full effect until July 1 as well as banking sanctions announced against Iran by the US will be too little too late to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Israel Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that the sanctions were a “step in the right direction” but that they could not be called a success until they succeeded in obtaining the desired goal – a stop to Iran’s nuclear program. Speaking at an Israeli conference, he said that should diplomacy and sanctions failed to stop Iran, a military strike should be launched. He stated that he believes that the Iranian nuclear program is nearing a stage when it will enter the “immunity zone” when it will be too heavily fortified for a military strike against Iran to succeed. Israeli officials said that Israel must act by the summer if it wants to effectively attack Iran’s program. They said that they believe the Iranian nuclear program is so far advanced that any attack would delay it by two to three years at best but not destroy it. A key question in the debate is how much damage Israel, or anyone else, can inflict, and whether it would be worth the risk of a possible counter strike. Many believe that in the event of a strike, Iran would likely unleash its large arsenal of missiles capable of striking Israel. Hezbollah to Israel’s north and Hamas to the south possess tens of thousands of short-range rockets and missiles and would likely attack Israel if Israel attacks Iran. According to an article in the Washington Post newspaper, United States Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta believes that Israel will attack Iran in April, May or June. According to the article, Israel might decide to strike before Iran completes the fortification since afterward only America will be capable of stopping Iran militarily and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t want to leave the fate of Israel dependent on American action”. Israel is preparing its army for war. On Feb. 1, Israel Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz said that Israel must muster all its military resources for action in case economic sanctions fail to deter Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Gantz was the first Israeli office-holder to state explicitly that Israel and its military were planning armed action against Iran. The United States opposes Israel attacking Iran alone. In a recent visit to Israel, US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey told Israeli leaders January 20 that the United States would not participate in a war against Iran begun by Israel without prior agreement with the US. When asked how the United States would react if Israel were to launch a unilateral attack on Iran, United States Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said that Israel needed to coordinate its policy to attack Iran with Israel. However, Panetta said that Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon is a “red line” for the US. Therefore, the disagreement between Israel and the US is over the proper timing to attack Iran and the amount of time that sanctions and diplomatic pressure should be given in order to try to persuade Iran from changing its mind. A former CIA chief under the administration of former US President Bill Clinton, James Woolsey, said that “To believe anything other than that Iran is working to get a nuclear weapon is hopelessly naive and at some point someone is going to have to decide to use force to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. I’d argue that those who say we can deal adequately with Iran through deterrence are quite naive.” In order to prepare for war with Iran, the United States plans to send a converted battleship to the Middle East that will serve as a “floating base” for commando operations in the region. U.S. military documents reveal that the floating base would be able to facilitate the kind of high-speed boats and helicopters used by U.S. special forces. The US is in the process of a military buildup in the Persian Gulf of about 100,000 troops and its military equipment won’t be fully ready to engage Iran is a possible war until about May.
A US war with Iran is a tribulation event.
The link to these articles is as follows:
1) Russia to reject fresh anti-Iran sanctions at the UNSC
2) India says it won’t participate in Iran oil embargo
3) ‘Israel sees narrowing window for Iran strike’
4) Israel: Iran’s nuclear arms program is complete, its missiles can reach US
5) Dempsey Told Israelis U.S. Won’t Join Their War on Iran
6) Barak: Iran’s nuclear program nearing ‘immunity zone’
7) Barak: If sanctions fail, Iran must face military strike
8.) ‘Panetta believes Israel will attack Iran this spring’
9) Israel’s Military Girds up to Strike Iran This Spring
10) Panetta: Iran is one year away from producing nuclear weapon
11) ‘Begin military plans to thwart Iran nukes’
12) U.S. plans to send ‘floating commando base’ to Mideast, documents show
13) US anticipates May as tentative date for clash with Iran. Floating SEALs base for Gulf
14) Postponed Israel-U.S. Drill to be Held in October
From a Biblical prophetic perspective, the reason why the God of Israel would allow these events to happen is because it will result in the end of the exile of the house of Jacob and the reunification of the 12 tribes of Israel (Ephraim and Judah).
We will to be “watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem” and we will not rest until the God of Israel makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth (Isaiah 62).
Shalom in Yeshua the Messiah,
Eddie Chumney
Hebraic Heritage Ministries Int’l
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