Brothers, my heart's desire and my prayer to God
is for Israel, that they may be saved. Rom. 10:1
Older but Still Relevant News Items
The following news items, although not new, are still relevant and need your prayers.
MI: 20 Grad-type missiles fired at Israel over course of Gaza op
A senior official in the Military Intelligence said Monday that militants in the Gaza Strip fired 20 Iranian-made Grad-type missiles at southern Israel over the course of the Israel Defense Forces offensive in recent days.
Full story [HAARETZ.com]
Abbas reiterates refusal to recognize Jewish state
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas reiterated his refusal on Saturday to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, Israel Radio reported.
Full story [HAARETZ.com]
After Annapolis: PA Television Erases Israel From Map
Just one day after the Annapolis conference at which the PA recognized the State of Israel's right to exist in peace and security, the PA's official television station screened a map that shows a Palestinian state in place of Israel.
Full story [IsraelNN.com]
Israeli leader lying about Temple Mount?
Claims site not up for talks, but Palestinians say PM already agreed to forfeiture
JERUSALEM – Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's statements yesterday that Israel's sovereignty over the Temple Mount is not up for negotiation are "false," according to a chief Palestinian negotiator who told WND the Israeli leader already agreed to forfeit Judaism's holiest site to a coalition of Arab countries.
Full story [WorldNetDaily]
Messianic Jews active in Sderot
An Israeli anti-missionary group complained this week that Messianic Jewish congregations are becoming more publicly active in the southern town of Sderot in an effort to bring comfort through Yeshua (Jesus) to a community living under an increasingly difficult physical threat.
Full story [israeltoday]
Northern residents still suffering trauma of Second Lebanon War
Sixteen months after the Second Lebanon War, a significant number of the residents of Kiryat Shmona suffer from high or very high levels of stress and post-traumatic stress syndrome symptoms, according to a study conducted for the UJA-Federation of New York.
Full story [Jerusalem Post]
New Evidence Increases Suspicion of French TV Blood Libel
Eighteen minutes of the raw footage by a Gazan Arab photographer which stand at the center of a libel suit were screened in a Paris courtroom Wednesday. The video served as the basis for a France-2 TV report showing the alleged killing by the IDF of 12-year-old Muhammad al-Dura in September 2000.
Full story [IsraelNN.com]
Majadle Justifies Destruction of Temple Remains
The Israeli government's first Arab minister made it clear Wednesday that as far as the Temple Mount is concerned, Israeli sovereignty is nonexistent and Islam rules. The minister spoke in his official capacity as Minister of Science, Culture and Sport, from the Knesset podium, in response to a parliamentary question by MK Aryeh Eldad (NU/NRP) regarding the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Full story [IsraelNN.com]
Leaflets at Haifa U call for Arabs to reoccupy Jerusalem
Arab students distribute pamphlets calling for the reoccupation of capital; material not sanctioned by university. 'They are guilty of incitement,' says MK Miller
Full story [Ynetnews.com]
DEBKAfile Exclusive: Israeli leaders dismayed to learn Washington is secretly lifting its boycott of Syria. Palestinians want more concessions too
Although the US promised Israel that its renewed contacts with Syria would be confined to the Lebanon controversy, DEBKAfile's sources report that a Washington-Damascus rapprochement is in full flight. The US ambassador will soon return to Damascus and Syrian officials are made warmly welcome in the US capital these days.
Full story [DEBKAfile]
Hamas Is Producing a New Generation of Palestinian Extra-Power, Extra-Range Missiles in Gaza and West Bank
In the last few weeks, the Palestinian Islamist Hamas has succeeded in tricking Israeli military intelligence into believing that the IDF forays behind the lines in Gaza had slowed down their Qassam missile offensive against Israeli towns and villages.
Full story [DEBKAfile]
IDF lacks NIS 1 billion to provide gas masks
The IDF needs more than NIS 1 billion to complete the process of buying new gas masks and refurbishing millions of those being collected from the public, defense officials revealed on Wednesday.
Full story [Jerusalem Post]
'No fence money left in 2007 budget'
Ten contractors preparing to start work on new sections of the West Bank security fence have been told by the Defense Ministry to stop for lack of funds, according to Dudi Barrel, director-general of the Israel Infrastructure Contractor's Association.
Full story [Jerusalem Post]
Hamas setting stage for West Bank seizure
Leader vows U.S.-backed Fatah 'will fall in a matter of weeks at most'
Hamas is setting the stage for a takeover of the West Bank similar to the coup in which the terror group seized control of the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli and Palestinian security officials.
Hamas leaders confirmed to WND they are planning a West Bank takeover.
Full story [WorldNetDaily]
'Hamas establishing bunker system along Gaza fence'
Hamas is trying to establish a bunker system as well as fortified rocket-launching and surveillance positions along the security fence with the Gaza Strip, Brig.-Gen. Moshe (Chico) Tamir, head of the Gaza Division, said Monday.
Tamir said that Hamas was "building an army" in the Gaza Strip and had obtained unprecedented capabilities through smuggling tunnels between Gaza and Egypt. On Monday, head of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) Yuval Diskin said that since Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, the Palestinians have smuggled over 112 tons of explosives into the Strip.
Full story [Jerusalem Post]
Arab-Israeli MK: Don't Israelify us
Knesset Member Jamal Zahalka: Attempt to have Arab volunteers in national service is part of attempt to Israelisize Arab youths, and we have a major issue with that
Full story [Ynetnews.com]
Jerusalem mufti: Western Wall was never part of Jewish temple
The Mufti of Jerusalem, Ikrema Sabri, has made the claim that there never was a Jewish temple on the Temple Mount, and the Western Wall was really part of a mosque.
Full story [Jerusalem Post]
Syria paper urges return of Golan Heights 'by any means'
An editorial in the state-run Syrian newspaper Al-Ba'ath called for the return of the Golan Heights to Syria by any means necessary.
"We, the Syrian people and our leaders have the steadfast determination to liberate our captured land no matter the means or the methods," the article read.
Full story [HAARETZ.com]
Editor's note: The following 'Opinion' article is linked to here in order for us that love Israel to better understand the thinking of the Orthodox (Haredim) Jewish viewpoint.
Opinion: The missionary danger
Current-day missionaries use friendly tactics, but are just as dangerous as before
Full story [Ynetnews.com]
FM Livni: 'Israel is Committed to Establishing Palestine'
Addressing the United Nations' Ad Hoc Liaison Committee for Assistance to the Palestinian People (AHLC) on Monday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni declared Israel's support for the creation of an Arab state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. However, she also strongly defended Israel's current security measures in those areas.
Full story [IsraelNN.com]
Russian Navy to operate from Syria
For first time since fall of Iron Curtain, Russia plans to build permanent bases on Syrian soil as part of large arms deal between two countries. Defense establishment officials fear Russian ships may try to spy on Israel's weapon systems
Full story [Ynetnews.com]
DEBKAfile: Israel taken aback by Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad's insistence that "resistance" is "legitimate" Palestinian right
The pro-US Fatah head of the Ramallah government stated at an Arab League meeting in Cairo Monday, July 30: "We are an occupied nation and resistance is the legitimate right of the Palestinian people."
DEBKAfile notes: "Resistance" is the Palestinian euphemism for armed terror including suicide bombing.
Full story [DEBKAfile]
Olmert 'Gesture' Opens Door to 'Right of Return' for Arabs
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's latest "good will gesture" to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has smashed Israel's long-standing policy rejecting the "right of return" for the generations of descendants of Arabs who fled Israel during the 1948 War of Independence.
Full story [IsraelNN.com]
DEBKA Reports: Iran buys 250 long-distance Sukhoi fighter-bombers, 20 fuel tankers, from Russia
Tehran and the Russian Rosoboronexport arms group are about to sign a mammoth arms deal running into tens of billions of dollars for the sale to Tehran of 250 Su-30MKM warplanes and 20 IL-78 MKI fuel tankers. DEBKAfile's military sources report Iran has stipulated delivery of the first aircraft before the end of 2007.
Full story [DEBKAfile]
Saudis developing nuclear weapons - report
Saudi Arabia is clandestinely developing nuclear weapons, according to a report appearing Wednesday on a Saudi Arabic-language news website.
Full story [israeltoday]
Syrian Official: War with Israel will be Ballistic
Syria sees the next war with Israel as involving missile attacks on civilian infrastructure and front-line guerilla warfare, an anonymous senior official in the Syrian Ministry of Defense told Defense News Weekly, in an interview appearing Monday. Syria prefers to avoid a direct, "classic" confrontation with Israel, he said. Instead, the next war will involve Katyusha rocket and ballistic missiles that will target strategic points in Israel, especially civilian infrastructure.
Full story [IsraelNN.com]
Israelis unprepared for Syrian gas strike
Less than half Israel’s citizens have gas masks, and many masks of those who do have are out of date.
Hamas has rockets than can hit IDF planes
During its recent takeover of Gaza, Hamas seized mass quantities of arms from Fatah depots, including anti-aircraft and antitank missiles. Weapons could help Hamas army more than double number of gunmen
Full story [Ynetnews.com]
Iranian Missiles Could Threaten Israel from Syria
Iran is planning to deploy, in Syria, missiles that can hit Israel, as a deterrent against a Western anti-nuclear strike upon Iran. It could happen soon, the British newspaper Telegraph reports.
Full story [IsraelNN.com]
Syria Winds up Planning for Campaign of Terror on Golan
On June 26, Syria opened the Damascus-Golan road to Quneitra to civilian traffic for the first time since the Six-Day War of 1967. No announcement was made. The dozens of military roadblocks studding the 60 km high road connecting the capital with the Syrian part of Golan for 40 years were removed, except for two – one at the entrance to Qunetra from the Syrian end and one at the town's exit to Israeli Golan. DEBKA-Net-Weekly's military sources report that this measure went mostly unnoticed, although it made Israeli military intelligence sit up.
Full story [DEBKAfile]
DEBKAfile Exclusive: UN Spanish peacekeepers cut covert protection deal with Hizballah behind backs of UN secretary and UNIFIL commander
DEBKAfile reveals a clandestine approach to Hizballah commanders in Beirut made by officers of the Spanish UN contingent. It was made after the loss of six members in a terrorist attack last Sunday, June 24. The Spanish peacekeepers offered Hizballah intelligence and military collaboration in return for protection and agreed to set up a hot line for their exchanges.
Full story [DEBKAfile]
Israel the enemy of the Palestinians, says Jordanian king
Helping to perpetuate Arab hatred of the Jewish state, Jordan's King Abdullah on Sunday referred to Israel as the enemy of the Palestinians.
Full story [israeltoday]
Syria making more missiles - Israeli official
Syria is producing more long-range missiles and is equipping its armed forces with as much anti-tank and anti-aircraft weaponry as it can get its hands on, warned the head of Israeli Defense Ministry's political-military bureau on Saturday.
Full story [israeltoday]
Sources: Italy offers Syria help in return for safety of soldiers
Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema offered Syrian officials a deal on his visit to Damascus earlier this month, according to Israeli sources.
D'Alema told Syrian president, Basher al-Assad and Foreign Minister Walid Moallem that Italy would push for an end to Syria's international isolation in return for a guarantee that Hezbollah and other groups would not harm Italian troops in Lebanon.
Full story [HAARETZ.com]
Syrian and Iranian Generals in Intensive War Consultations
DEBKAfile’s intelligence and Middle East sources take a look at the actions behind the words issuing from Damascus officials affirming Syria’s willingness to go into peace talks with Israel.
During most of last week, two high-ranking Iranian delegations spent time in Damascus. One was composed of generals who held talks with Syrian leaders on coordinated preparations for a Middle East war in the coming months.
Full story [DEBKAfile]
Mofaz: All options, including military one, on the table regarding Iran
All options, including the military one, are on the table when it comes to dealing with Iran's nuclear program, Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz said Saturday, after talks in Washington with senior U.S. officials.
Full story [HAARETZ.com]
'Syria ready for war'
Officials: Troops at Israeli border, could launch surprise attack
TEL AVIV – Syria, aided by Iran, has deployed a strengthened army along Israel's northern border and is prepared to launch a surprise war against the Jewish state, according to senior Israeli security officials.
Full story [WorldNetDaily]
Golan Heights residents 'ready for resistance'
Syrian official warns of attacks if Israel won't vacate strategic territory
TEL AVIV – If the Jewish state doesn't vacate the Golan Heights in the near future, Golan residents living under Israeli administration will launch "resistance operations" aimed at prompting an Israeli retreat from the territory, an official from Syrian President Bashar Assad's Baath party told WND in an exclusive interview yesterday.
Full story [WorldNetDaily]
DEBKAfile Exclusive: Ahmadinijad's bluster boosted by secret deal for North Korean Taep'o-dong-2 ballistic missiles
Iran and North Korea are in advanced negotiations for Tehran's purchase of Taep'o-dong-2 ballistic missiles, whose estimate range is 3,500-4,000 km., DEBKAfile's exclusive intelligence sources report. North Korea's deputy foreign minister Kim Hyong brought the proposition to its final stages when he visited Tehran in the first week of May. Delivery was promised for late July or early August. US Vice President Richard Cheney informed Saudi King Abdullah of this development during his May visit to Riyadh, as DEBKA-Net-Weekly 300 first revealed on May 11.
Full story [DEBKAfile]
Palestinian Fatah-al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades group splits, with 40 percent defecting to Hamas – DEBKAfile's counter-terror sources report exclusively
The breakaway Fatah rebel group based in the West Bank has turned its back on Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and his senior adviser Mohammed Dahlan and established a separate suicide terrorist militia. Called the Martyr Abu Amar (Yasser Arafat) Brigades, the rebel group's new commanders are Hamas Gaza operatives Hussein Hijaz and Abu Hilas (Abu Maher). They also take orders, as well as explosive supplies and funds, from the Lebanese Hizballah.
Full story [DEBKAfile]
'Terror cell in capital ready for attacks'
Militant leader claims Israeli residents recruited to carry out bombings
JERUSALEM – The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the declared military wing of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah organization, has formed a terrorist cell living in the vicinity of Jerusalem consisting of Israeli residents ready to carry out attacks within the Jewish state, according to a top Brigades leader speaking to WND.
Full story [WorldNetDaily]
DEBKAfile Exclusive: Ambitious Saudi-Egyptian-Kuwaiti plan for two bridges to span Gulf of Aqaba could block Israel's outlet to Red Sea
One bridge across the Tiran Strait will span a distance of 25 km from the Saudi mainland at Ras el-Sheik Humayd to Tiran island; the second will carry traffic up to the Egyptian Sinai resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, becoming the first direct link between Arabia and Africa.
DEBKAfile reports: Israel was not advised of the $3bn project or informed how international shipping in the Tiran Strait would be regulated - even though its military and economic interests are vitally affected.
Full story [DEBKAfile]
DEBKAfile Exclusive: Frontrunner as next Revolutionary Guards chief threatens US world interests and Israel if Iran is attacked
Mohammad Baqer Solghadr, deputy interior minister, has been tagged for this top post by Iranian leaders engrossed in war preparations, according to DEBKAfile's Iranian sources. He told the official Iranian news agency IRNA Thursday: "Nowhere would be safe for America with (Iran's) long-range missiles... we can fire tens of thousands of missiles every day." He added: "With long-range missiles Iran can also threaten Israel as America's ally" and US Middle East bases.
DEBKAfile's military sources report that Solghadr was not overstating Iran's missile capabilities.
Full story [DEBKAfile]
DEBKAfile Exclusive: Tehran arms Lebanese Hizballah militia with air defense missile wing as part of war build-up
April 15, on the eve of Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day, Hizballah and Iranian Revolutionary Guards commanders staged a grand ceremony at the Imam Ali base in northern Tehran to celebrate the launch of Hizballah's anti-air missile wing. They cheered the 500 Lebanese graduates of a course in the use of three anti-air missiles supplied by Iran:
Full story [DEBKAfile]
DEBKAfile Exclusive: Israel-Jordan tensions flare over discovery of king's covert support for hard-line Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal
Israeli officials and army chiefs were taken aback by an intelligence report summing up two years of research, which exposed Jordan’s King Abdullah, Israel's partner in peace and the war on terror, as being secretly in league with the Damascus-based radical Khaled Meshaal.
Full story [DEBKAfile]
EU backs Syria's aim to regain Golan Heights - Solana
EU foreign policy chief says EU wants to help Syria regain territory captured by Israel in 1967, urges Syria to help ease tension in Lebanon, Iraq
Full story [Ynetnews.com]
Israeli military and government sources report Syria has positioned thousands of rockets on its border with Israel
Quoting three Israeli military and two government sources, the French news agency AFP reports the Syrian army has accelerated its deployment of medium and long-range rockets capable of striking major towns across northern Israel.
Full story [DEBKAfile]
Syria ready with bio-terror if U.S. hits Iran
Damascus reportedly hiding WMD among commercial pharmaceuticals
An American biodefense analyst living in Europe says if the U.S. invades Iran to halt its nuclear ambitions, Syria is ready to respond with weapons of mass destruction — specifically biological weapons.
"Syria is positioned to launch a biological attack on Israel or Europe should the U.S. attack Iran," Jill Bellamy-Dekker told WND.
Full story [WorldNetDaily]
Olmert: My vision is a Palestinian state
Prime minister tells foreign press corps realignment plan was lost due to 'change in circumstances', but stresses vision of Palestinian state is strong. Olmert also says Syria will find Israel ready and willing if it is serious about negotiations
Full story [Ynetnews.com]
Jordan quietly gaining Temple Mount control
Officials say Arab kingdom using shell firms to buy key properties with access to holy site
JERUSALEM — Jordan has been quietly purchasing real estate surrounding the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in hopes of gaining more control over the area accessing the holy site, according to Palestinian and Israeli officials.
Full story [WorldNetDaily]
DEBKAfile reports: Syria has delivered Russian-made SA-18 "Grouse" Igla 9K38 anti-air missiles to Lebanese Hezballah
Moscow guaranteed the shoulder-carried SA-18 "Grouse" Igla 9K38 was sold to Damascus under the strict prohibition of its transfer to Hizballah, DEBKAfile notes. The pledge was given to the US and personally by Russian president Vladimir Putin to Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert.
Full story [DEBKAfile]
DEBKAfile Exclusive: Iran sends shoulder-borne QW-1 anti-air missiles to Iraqi Sunni insurgents and Hizballah to shoot down US and Israeli helicopters
DEBKAfile's sources in Tehran and Kurdistan disclose that, last month, two Iranian QW-1 and SA-7 missile consignments reached Iraqi insurgents allied with al Qaeda and one, radical Shiite Moqtada Sadr's Shiite militia, the Mehdi Army. Israeli sources report the same anti-air weapons were delivered at about the same time to Hizballah units in Lebanon including the south.
Full story [DEBKAfile]
1 in 4 Israeli citizens poor
Annual poverty report reveals over 1.6 million Israeli citizens live below poverty line
Full story [Ynetnews.com]
Academic: Israeli-Arabs want end of Jewish state
There is no way to accommodate demands of Israeli-Arabs, short of replacing Israel with an Arab state, says Dr. Dan Schueftan
Full story [Ynetnews.com]
Yaalon: Occupation is not root of conflict
Former IDF chief of staff says Palestinians, Hizbullah are fighting to destroy Israel, not liberate lands; Israeli concessions will only aid jihadists, he adds
Full story [Ynetnews.com]
Abbas Tells Ramallah Rally To Use Weapons against Israel
Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas, whom the United States, Israel and most media have labeled as a moderate, told supporters in Ramallah that it is legitimate "to turn rifles against the occupation." He added that he will not compromise on previously stated demands that a new Arab state include the right of millions of Arabs in other countries to live in Israel.
Full story [IsraelNN.com]
Israel 2006: More kids under poverty line
National Council for the Child presents PM with annual report on Israel's youth. 2.3 mil. children live in Israel at end of 2005, 35 percent under poverty line
Full story [Ynetnews.com]
Baker report: Israel must withdraw from Golan
Special panel headed by James Baker and Lee Hamilton, which looked into situation in Iraq and Middle East, rules that 'in the context of a full and secure peace agreement, the Israelis should return the Golan Heights'
Full story [Ynetnews.com]
Khaled Mashaal: Cease-Fire a Tactic in War Against Israel
Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal says that the current cease-fire is a tactic in the war against Israel.
Full story [IsraelNN.com]
GA Resolution: Israel must withdraw from E.J'lem, Golan
Decisive majority in UN General Assembly approves six pro-Palestinian resolutions, including calls for Israel to dismantle settlements, withdraw from territory captured in '67, including E. J'lem, Golan Heights despite heavy opposition by Israel, US
Full story [Ynetnews.com]
DEBKAfile reports: Russia sells Iran sophisticated missile systems capable of repelling US or Israeli air or missile assaults
The first of 29 Tor-M1 systems in the $700m deal have been delivered to Iran by Moscow despite US opposition to their sale of a weapon widely regarded as the most advanced of its kind in the world. Some Iranian and Russian air defense experts say its full deployment at Iran's nuclear installations will make them virtually invulnerable to American or Israeli attack in the foreseeable future. Therefore, no more than six months remain, until the Russian Tor-M1 systems are in place, for any attempt to knock out Iran's nuclear weapons industry.
Full story [DEBKAfile]
Abbas: Recognizing Israel not required
JERUSALEM - Fresh from claiming in a meeting last week with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that he will demand Hamas recognize the existence of Israel, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said in an Arabic-language interview neither Hamas nor his own Fatah party is required to recognize the Jewish state.
Full story [WorldNetDaily]
Abbas recognition of Israel 'political calculation'
JERUSALEM — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' stated recognition of Israel's right to exist is part of a "political calculation" aimed at ultimately destroying the Jewish state, a terror group leader and member of Abbas' Fatah party told WND in an interview.
Full story [WorldNetDaily]
Al-Aqsa: We learned missiles subdue Israel
Abu Nasser, commander of al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade in Nablus, encouraged by war results. 'Our brothers demonstrated what we have felt in recent years: Israel falling apart. Next time Iran will be in picture with missiles on Tel Aviv and it will be easier'
Full story [Ynetnews.com]
Israel deliberately minimizing rocket threat?
Analysts say publicity about missiles could damage PM Olmert's withdrawal plan. National Religious Party MK Effie Eitam: 'Any West Bank withdrawal will be followed by rockets fired at major Israeli cities'.
Full story [Ynetnews.com]
Russia building naval base in Syria - report
Russian magazine reports Moscow planning to turn Syrian port into permanent naval base; Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson denies report
Full story [Ynetnews.com]
Former IDF Chief Ya'alon: "Israel's Leaders Selling Illusions"
Former IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon has broken his relative silence, decrying the entire notion of a Palestinian state, and urging Israel to be strong rather than appease the global Jihad.
Full story [IsraelNN.com]
Homosexuals headed for Tel Aviv
The first Hebrew city wants to be the first gay city. Work is underway in conjunction with the Ministry of Tourism to turn Tel Aviv into the international tourist destination for the gay-lesbian community in order to boost business in restaurants, hotels, city attraction sites and beaches.
Full story [Ynetnews.com]
Pray that God would oppose such flagrant displays of perversion and that He would forgive the sins of those officials that see financial income more important than moral values.
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