Israel

US Obsession With Two-State Solution Is ‘Delusional’

Breaking News Updates – February 29, 2024

BY ISRAEL KASNETT/JNS.ORG FEBRUARY 29, 2024

Pushing for a Palestinian state now “would serve as the most powerful form of confirmation that the Iranian strategy of violence, chaos and genocidal terrorism is the only path to vindicating the rights of Muslims.”

The Biden administration’s dogged focus on creating a Palestinian state is “obtuse” and “delusional,” according to experts who spoke with JNS.

Their comments came after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s call last week for a “concrete, time-bound, irreversible path to a Palestinian state” during his visit to the Middle East.

Jason Greenblatt, former White House Envoy to the Middle East and author of the widely acclaimed book “In the Path of Abraham” about the Israel-Palestinian conflict and the Abraham Accords, said that for Blinken to be so obsessed with the two-state solution is “very dangerous.”

“It’s completely tone-deaf to talk about things like this at the moment after Oct. 7,” he said. “It’s not only a waste of time, it makes absolutely no sense.”

It’s “shocking that a U.S. administration under ordinary circumstances, let alone after Oct. 7, would push for that,” he added.

Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president for research at Foundation for Defense of Democracies, also called out the international community’s obsession with the two-state solution, saying that the United States, United Kingdom and other Europeans “have failed to read the room in the aftermath of Oct. 7.”

This is “not the time to ask Israelis to make painful sacrifices,” he told JNS.

“It just is not where the Israeli population is right now and it really strikes me as obtuse that the Europeans, United States and United Kingdom are pushing this line,” he said.

According to John Hannah, a Randi and Charles Wax Senior Fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) in Washington, anyone advocating on behalf of recognizing or creating a Palestinian state in the near future is “delusional.”

“It reflects a total absence of understanding, not only of the impact of  Oct. 7 on Israel, but of power politics, the Palestinian situation, and–most importantly–U.S. national interests,” he told JNS.

Hannah said that Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s message at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January “should ring loudly in every Western liberal’s ears.” Herzog had said that after Oct. 7, “no Israeli in their right mind is thinking of a Palestinian state.”

According to Hannah, movement toward creating a Palestinian state now “would be seen throughout the Middle East and Islamic world as a huge victory for the Iranian Axis of Resistance.”

Pushing for a Palestinian state now “would serve as the most powerful form of confirmation that the Iranian strategy of violence, chaos and genocidal terrorism is the only path to vindicating the rights of Muslims,” he said. 

“It would be a huge gift to the worst enemies of America and the West,” he added.

Blinken further infuriated Israelis in a press conference in Tel Aviv on Feb. 7, when he accused Israel of dehumanizing the Palestinians. He said that while Hamas dehumanized Israelis on Oct. 7, and the hostages have been dehumanized every day since, “that cannot be a license to dehumanize others.”

Greenblatt said he had been extremely complimentary regarding the Biden administration, including Blinken, until recently, following these remarks.

“The statements were shameful,” he said. “Israel is not dehumanizing Palestinians…. Those words were absolutely terrible for him to use and it plays into some of the world’s attacks on Israel about genocide,” said Greenblatt.

“It’s shocking actually that he chose to use those words,” he added.

Former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren commended the administration for its ongoing assistance, but condemned Blinken’s comments as well.

“You cannot, as our ultimate ally and as the defender of the free world, come out and accuse Israel of acting inhumanely toward the Palestinians,” he told JNS. “It’s unfair, it’s libelous and it’s inaccurate. It’s simply untrue.”

On Feb. 8, Oren tweeted: “When Secretary of State Blinken accuses Israel–inaccurately, unfairly, and libelously–of dehumanizing Palestinians, he dehumanizes us and contributes to the delegitimization of Israel and the demonization of Jews worldwide…Dehumanizing us endangers our security and possibly our existence.”

Essentially, he told JNS, “It’s…telling the world we are guilty of war crimes. It’s telling all the protesters out there that ‘we agree with you.'”

With regard to a Palestinian state, Oren told JNS he believes at the moment it “has no chance of success.”

“The Palestinians hold the world record for a people who have turned down a two-state solution,” he said, noting they’ve done so “mostly with violence” in 1937, 1947, 2000, 2001 and 2008.

“Now you have a sizable majority of Israelis who understand this is an existential threat,” he said.

In his remarks in Tel Aviv, Blinken said, “The overwhelming majority of people in Gaza had nothing to do with the attacks of Oct. 7, and the families in Gaza…are just like our families. They’re mothers and fathers, sons and daughters–[they] want to earn a decent living, send their kids to school, have a normal life. That’s who they are; that’s what they want.” 

But a Dec. 2023 poll published by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) suggests otherwise.

The poll found that nearly 75% of Palestinians (82% in the West Bank and 57% in the Gaza Strip) believe Hamas’s atrocities were justified.

The poll also found that less than half of Palestinians want a two-state solution, while a majority want a terrorist, Marwhan Barghouti, as their next leader to succeed Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas.

Greenblatt was recently in Israel, where he went on a tour of the southern community of Kfar Aza, arranged with the World Jewish Congress, together with Samer Sinijlawi, a Palestinian political activist and commentator from eastern Jerusalem.

Referring to the PSR poll, Sinijlawi said he had spoken with Palestinian students and asked them directly, “Do you support killing Israeli babies, women and civilians?”

“They said ‘no,'” said Sinijlawi.

“Our national interest should be built on Israeli security,” he said. “If we cannot provide the needs for Israelis to feel secure, we will not be able to progress and develop ourselves,” he said.

In addition to the renewed push for a Palestinian state, the Biden administration appears to have returned to the old, failed linkage paradigm that says Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians is the core conflict in the Middle East and any peace agreements with other countries must be accompanied by the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The Trump administration changed this paradigm and achieved four normalization agreements, between Israel and Bahrain, Morocco, United Arab Emirates and Sudan, in effect decoupling the Palestinians from the larger Arab-Israeli conflict.

But now the Biden administration appears to be returning to the old, failed paradigm and recreating that linkage, tying any normalization with Saudi Arabia to the creation of a Palestinian state. 

For instance, Blinken said that normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia would involve a “necessary Palestinian component.”

Blinken emphasized that “the path forward for Israel and for the entire region with integration, with normalization” must include an “irreversible” and “clear, credible, time-bound path to the establishment of a Palestinian state.”

Oren agreed that the administration’s position is a return to linkage, that it believes “somehow, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the core conflict in the Middle East.”

He suggested that lurking behind this linkage is something “very dark.”

“For centuries, Jews were blamed for the world’s problems,” he said. “If there is a conflict in the Middle East, it must be the Jews. What are they saying? The Jews are the problem,” he added.

According to Eytan Gilboa, an expert on U.S.-Israel relations at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan and a senior fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, there are three reasons for the U.S. obsession with a Palestinian state.

He told JNS it is a combination of “a long-term wrong concept of how to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, this vision of Israeli peace with Saudi Arabia, and the upcoming U.S. presidential elections.”

Greenblatt seemed to agree, noting that “We are starting to see a shift partly, if not largely, because of U.S. politics and the political reality.”

He suggested the Biden administration is “trying to show the world that they’re saying the right words,” and “ignoring reality, either for political purposes or some other reason.”

However, he said, “it’s an exercise in futility to go down the path that they’re going.”

“Biden continues to stand by Israel, but at the same time is saying things that range from unhelpful to very harmful and I hope he pivots back to where he should be, which is unequivocal support for Israel,” he said.

Originally published at JNS.org

Shock Survey On What Muslims Think Reveal Future Of Europe

Breaking News Updates – February 23, 2024

BY DR. GUY MILLIÈRE/GATESTONE INSTITUTE FEBRUARY 23, 2024

The French weekly, Le Journal du Dimanche, has published the most comprehensive and detailed survey on what French Muslims think. Not surprisingly, the results are disturbing.

The first question in the survey was about Jews. 17% of French Muslims admit that they hate Jews. 39% say they have a bad, or very bad, opinion of Judaism.

France is the only country in 21st-century Europe where Jews regularly have been murdered simply because they are Jews. Since the kidnapping, torture and murder of Ilan Halimi in January 2006, all Jews murdered in France have been killed by Muslims. 

Sammy Ghozlan, the president of the National Office for Vigilance against Anti-Semitism (BNVCA), which lists anti-Semitic acts and helps their victims, has emphasized year after year, for more than twenty years, that almost all violent anti-Semitic acts committed in France are committed by Muslims.

When it comes to Israel, the results are even more disturbing. Feelings go beyond hatred. 45% of French Muslims say they want the total destruction of Israel. An equivalent number of French Muslims define the massacre rape, torture, beheadings and burning alive of Jews by Hamas terrorists in Israel on October 7, 2023, as an “act of resistance”.

So, almost half of a religious community in a Western democracy openly wants the destruction of a group of people who were just massacred in another country, and in the greatest number since the end of the Holocaust.

19% of French Muslims say they have sympathy for Hamas. That so many French Muslims have sympathy for an organization whose leaders say that they will repeat the October 7 attack time and again until Israel is annihilated, and unabashedly state that they want the genocidal destruction of the only Jewish state, should sound an alarm that French Jews, and French non-Jews, are in an extremely perilous situation.

Other figures showed that 42% of French Muslims place respect for Islamic Sharia law above respect for the laws of the French republic (the percentage rises to 57% among young Muslims aged 18 to 25).

The European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2003 that Sharia law is incompatible with the values of democracy. Sharia law stipulates that Allah has dictated all the rules that human beings must obey, and that all rules contrary to Sharia law must be rejected. 37% of French Muslims say they support the Muslim Brotherhood — also not surprising: the main French Muslim organization, Musulmans de France (“Muslims of France”) is the French branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Every year, Muslims of France organizes a conference that attracts hundreds of thousands of Muslims from all over Europe. The group also invites radical imams who speak to the crowd.

The survey further showed that 49% of French Muslims want Catholics to convert to Islam, and that 36% percent want churches to be transformed into mosques. Some churches already have been transformed. The survey also discloses that 25% of French Muslims said that the word “France” is a word they reject.

These figures are best seen and understood in conjunction with other facts.

France is one of the only countries in the Western world where men have been beheaded by radicalized Muslims. (The other is the United Kingdom, where two Muslims tried to behead British Soldier Lee Rigby in 2013.) Samuel Paty, a schoolteacher, was beheaded on October 16, 2020. Herve Cornara, a small business entrepreneur, was beheaded on June 26, 2015 in Romans-sur-Isère, a small town in the southeast of France. And Father Jacques Hamel had his throat slit and was beheaded on July 26, 2016 in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, Normandy, while saying mass in an almost empty church.

France also happens to be the country in Europe with the largest number of “no-go zones”. There are at least 751 designated Zones Urbaines Sensibles (“sensitive urban zones”), where Muslim gangs and radical imams are in charge. Non-Muslims can still live there, on the condition that they accept the status of dhimmi (tolerated second-class citizen), bow their heads, and admit that they live in a territory ruled by Islam. Members of Muslim gangs no longer respect the police. If an incident between a police officer and a member of a gang breaks out, riots follow, and the police receive orders that if the situation risks escalation, they are not to arrest anyone.

France is a country where more than 70% of prison inmates are Muslim. According to reports, the crime rate among the Muslim population is high.

Three decades ago, Seine-Saint-Denis, a French district in the Paris suburbs, had a large Jewish community. Almost the entire Jewish population of the district, after being subjected to incessant threats, moved away to live elsewhere. The few Jews who remain hide that they are Jews.

Throughout France, Jewish men conceal their skullcaps under a hat. Jewish women tuck their Star of David necklaces inside their clothing. Many Jewish families no longer place mezuzahs at the entrance to their homes.

For more than 20 years, it has been impossible to talk about the Holocaust in French schools. When Georges Bensoussan, in 2004, published The Lost Territories of the Republic, a book denouncing the Muslim anti-Semitism widespread in educational establishments, Jewish students were already experiencing harassment and discrimination. 

Today, most Jewish families in France, out of caution, have abandoned the public education system and have enrolled their children in private schools. For years, when a Jewish student is bullied in a public school, the authorities take no disciplinary action against the bullies; instead, they might ask the Jewish child’s parents to place him in another school.

French Christians visibly wearing a cross on the street receive insults. Every year, dozens of French churches are desecrated and ransacked.

More than 120 knife attacks take place in France every day and can happen anytime, anywhere. Most of these attacks are committed are by Muslim men who then tell the police that they did it because they hate infidels and hate France. Only the knife attacks that result in death appear in the newspapers; the others are passed over in silence. 

In the main French cities, muggings and beatings have become commonplace. There are also more than two hundred rapes every day in France, most perpetrated by Muslim men who entered France illegally. Only 7% of illegal immigrants ordered to leave France are ever actually deported.

The poll in Le Journal du Dimanche received little comment.

Only one French political leader, former journalist Éric Zemmour, has dared to say that the situation is increasingly alarming and that a growing Islamic danger is threatening France. His comments have led to his being sentenced to pay heavy fines several times for “provoking discrimination and hatred towards the Muslim community”. In the May 2022 presidential elections, he received only 7% of the vote; his message was apparently either not widely heard or not widely accepted.

The president of the National Rally party, Marine Le Pen, has limited herself to denouncing the presence in France of an “Islamist ideology totally distinct from Islam”, and insists on saying that only a tiny minority of Muslims adhere to this ideology. She adds, perhaps wishfully, that Islam is “fully compatible” with the French institutions.

La France Insoumise (“France Unsubmitted”), the main left-wing political party in France, is violently anti-Israel. Its leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, calls Hamas a “resistance” movement. He received 21.9% of the vote in 2022, but 69% of the Muslim vote.

Several members of the French National Assembly have denounced the positions of La France Insoumise and Mélenchon, but only one, Meyer Habib, has spoken out about the leftist and Muslim anti-Semitism, as well as the increasingly serious threats weighing on French Jews and on France itself. As a result, he has received death threats by the hundreds and his family and he now live under ’round-the-clock police protection.

French President Emmanuel Macron said, in October 2020, that he wanted to fight what he called “Islamic separatism”, but seemed not to want to see that Muslims tempted by Islamism do not want to “separate” themselves from the rest of the population, but to conquer others and have them submit. “Islam,” Macron added is “in crisis”. His statement provoked vehement protests from all of the French Muslim organizations, and demonstrations in several countries of the Muslim world. Since then, he has avoided talking about Islam altogether.

No Islamic organization appears to have called anyone to come to the demonstration against anti-Semitism that took place in Paris on November 12, 2023. The only reaction from the imam of the Great Mosque of Paris, Chems-Eddine Hafiz, to Hamas’s massacre on October 7 was, “With all these bombs, these deaths, and this frustration generated over the years there, what are we creating? Hate of the other” – which was not exactly a ringing condemnation of the massacre. He then accused Israel of attacking the civilian population of Gaza: “Islam totally condemns the attack on civilians in an armed conflict.”

French Muslim online magazines were more virulent. Evidently basing what they publish on Hamas propaganda, they accuse Israel of committing “genocide” in the Gaza Strip. They never say that Hamas uses Palestinian Arabs as human shields or that the Israel Defense Forces do their best to avoid killing civilians while often putting their own lives at great risk.

The French journalist Ivan Rioufol, in his book The Coming Civil War, published in 2016, wrote:

“The question of the Muslim presence in France must be posed without artifice…. the rise of strict Islam in France would imply emergency decisions. If decisions are not taken very quickly, and if the almost generalized voluntary blindness of the country’s leaders does not cease, the future of France will be tragic and violent.”

France is the country in Europe with the largest number of Muslims: around 10% of a population of 67.75 million. By 2050, the figure is expected to increase to 17%, according to an analysis by the Pew Research Center.

A similar situation to that of France can be found in other Western European countries, where the Muslim population may be smaller but is quickly growing.

In Londonistan, a book by the British journalist Melanie Phillips published in 2006, she noted the existence of Sharia-controlled zones in London, and that “sixty percent of British Muslims would like sharia law to be established in Great Britain”. In 2019, she wrote in the UK’s Jewish Chronicle: “A frighteningly high number of British Muslims subscribe to extremist or anti-Semitic views”.

In Germany, Sharia-controlled zones have begun to appear. They have also been emerging in Belgium, Sweden and the Netherlands. The recent victory of Geert Wilders in the Dutch elections could be the sign of a turning point and an awakening in Europe. It is too early to draw conclusions, and almost three months after his victory, Wilders has still not succeeded in forming a government.

In 2015, the Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, in the novel 2084: The End of the World, described a totalitarian future in which Muslim extremists establish an oppressive caliphate where freedom of thought and action is abolished. When a television journalist asked him what, in his opinion, France will be in 2084, his immediate response was: “France will be Islamist”. “Europe too,” he added.

The former head of Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Hans-Georg Maaßen, said in a recent interview that “Europeans will succumb to Islam”.

If Europeans wish to avoid such a future and keep their culture, they need to start making that outcome unmistakably clear to everyone, not just by words but by actions. If not, what we are seeing could well mean the end of the European civilization as we know it.

Originally published at Gatestone Institute

Toto, I Don’t Think We’re In Kansas Anymore…

…pretty much sums up the viewpoint of discerning Christians sixty years and up, about the America we grew up with and loved. It is forever gone and the following article is enlightening.

Breaking News Updates – May 03, 2024

7 Numbers That Clearly Reveal The Direction That America Has Chosen
 BY MICHAEL SNYDER/END OF THE AMERICAN DREAM MAY 03, 2024
I know that a lot of people out there may not want to hear that our national values have been turned upside down, but it is the truth. Those that sought to “fundamentally transform” this country have succeeded, and at this point “American values” are vastly different from the “American values” that I cherished as a young boy.

Over the past several decades, America’s culture has been transformed at a pace that is absolutely breathtaking.  When I was growing up, I was convinced that I believed in a shared set of national values that most other Americans also embraced.  But in our day and age those values have been discarded and now people that see the world the way that I do are clearly not in the majority any longer.  

I know that a lot of people out there may not want to hear that our national values have been turned upside down, but it is the truth.  Those that sought to “fundamentally transform” this country have succeeded, and at this point “American values” are vastly different from the “American values” that I cherished as a young boy.  The following are 7 numbers that clearly reveal the direction that America has chosen…

#1 There is more political chaos in our nation than there has ever been in my entire lifetime, and more than 40 percent of U.S. voters actually believe that a “second civil war” is likely within the next five years…

More than four-in-ten US voters say the country is likely to get ripped apart in a second civil war within five years, a shocking new survey reveals.

The Rasmussen Reports poll shows that 41 percent eye a civil conflict, compared to 49 percent who say it’s not likely. Another 10 percent said they were not sure.

That amounts to 106 million US adults saying civil war is on the horizon.

The survey comes against a backdrop of mounting violence on US college campuses, where pro-Palestine protestors clash with law enforcers, conservatives, some Jewish students and others.

#2 According to a recent Gallup survey, only 36 percent of Americans approve of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza…

After narrowly backing Israel’s military action in Gaza in November, Americans now oppose the campaign by a solid margin. Fifty-five percent currently disapprove of Israel’s actions, while 36% approve.

The latest results are from a March 1-20 survey. The Israel-Hamas war has continued for five months and has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians and over 1,000 Israelis. Major parts of Gaza have been destroyed, complicating efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians still living there. The United Nations and international community, including the Biden administration, have called for a cease-fire, but the two warring sides have been unable to agree.

#3 65 percent of Americans do not approve of the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade…

About two-thirds (65%) oppose the 2022 Supreme Court decision, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, and 34% approve, numbers that have remained effectively unchanged in CNN’s polling across the nearly two years since the ruling. Those who strongly disapprove of the decision continue to outnumber those who strongly approve by a more than 2-to-1 margin.

A 69% majority who disapprove of overturning Roe, including 82% of those who strongly disapprove, say that federal politicians should work to pass laws ensuring national abortion access. Those who support the ruling largely say federal politicians shouldn’t take action on the issue: 59% say laws on abortion should be left up to the states, with 29% in favor of further restrictions to abortion access nationwide. New national restrictions are supported by just about one-quarter of Republicans, White Evangelical Christians and those who describe themselves as conservative.

#4 More than 20 percent of Generation Z adults (22.3 percent to be specific) now identify as LGBTQ+…

Overall, each younger generation is about twice as likely as the generation that preceded it to identify as LGBTQ+. More than one in five Gen Z adults, ranging in age from 18 to 26 in 2023, identify as LGBTQ+, as do nearly one in 10 millennials (aged 27 to 42). The percentage drops to less than 5% of Generation X, 2% of baby boomers and 1% of the Silent Generation.

Bisexuality is the most common LGBTQ+ status among Generation Z, millennials and Generation X. Fifteen percent of all Generation Z adults — representing more than two-thirds of those with an LGBTQ+ identification — are bisexual.

#5 According to the Daily Mail, the number of transgender troops in the U.S. Army has doubled since 2020…

The Pentagon has spent more than $26million treating transgender troops since 2020, official records show.

The number of US army staff with gender dysphoria has doubled in that time — from around 1,800 to 3,700, according to DoD data seen by DailyMail.com.

In the past three years, $17.5m in taxpayer money was spent on psychotherapy for trans service people and $1.5m went towards hormone drugs.

A further $7.6m funded gender-affirming surgeries, including facial tweaks to make a recruit more masculine or feminine, and the removal or creation of breasts and genitals.

#6 By a vote of 692 to 51, the United Methodist Church has voted to approve LGBTQ clergy and same sex weddings in their churches…

The United Methodist Church, one of the largest Protestant denominations in the U.S., has voted to repeal its ban on LGBTQ clergy as well as prohibitions on its ministers from officiating at same-sex weddings.

Delegates overwhelmingly approved the changes, 692 to 51, during the United Methodist Church’s General Conference.

The meeting is taking place this week in Charlotte, N.C. after the pandemic delayed the 2020 General Conference where these decisions had been slated to take place.

#7 Only 3.6 million babies were born in the U.S. last year, and the birth rate is now at the lowest level ever recorded…

The birth rate in the US has declined to a new low, according to data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The figures show that fewer than 3.6 million babies were born in the US last year, the lowest amount since 1979 and equating to the lowest fertility rate EVER recorded.

The CDC analysed the 2023 data and found that the birth rate is down 2 percent on the previous year.

If you go back to 1960, the average U.S. woman gave birth to 3.65 children during her lifetime.

Today, that number has fallen all the way down to 1.6.

But we need a birth rate of at least 2.1 just to keep replacing ourselves.

If we didn’t have so much immigration going on, our population would be steadily falling.

In my latest book entitled “Chaos”, I have an entire chapter about the population collapse that is happening in wealthy nations all over the industrialized world.

It is often said that children are the future of our society, but we have greatly devalued marriage and parenthood.

Meanwhile, birth rates are still very high in many nations in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Given enough time, those that are willing to multiply would become increasingly powerful and those that are not willing to multiply would become less powerful.

But the fact that we aren’t reproducing ourselves is just one of the existential problems that we are facing.

At this point we live in an upside down society that has rejected the values that this nation was founded upon.

If we stay on this path, there isn’t going to be a future for America, and that is the truth.

Originally published at End Of The American Dream – reposted with permission.

America’s Military In Decline: Are We Prepared For The Next Crisis? 　 　    

Breaking News Updates – February 15, 2024

BY DAKOTA WOOD/DAILY SIGNAL FEBRUARY 15, 2024

Many people will say the purpose of a strong military is to deter war, but deterrence derives from the belief of the enemy that they would be defeated in battle. So if our military is at great risk of not being able to win … well, it doesn’t have much deterrent value. Our potential enemies can see this; the American public, not so much.

Our government isn’t serious about defending the United States and its interests. In fact, it has fallen woefully short in carrying out this sacred obligation. I know this sounds harsh, but as we’ll see, the government’s own numbers prove the point.

That our military is weak is not an indictment of the men and women who have volunteered to serve. It is an indictment of a system largely defined by the government and those elected to high office.

That includes senior military officers whose primary obligation should be to ensure that our men and women have what they need to win in war–which is, after all, the primary purpose of our military.

Yes, many people will say the purpose of a strong military is to deter war, but deterrence derives from the belief of the enemy that they would be defeated in battle. So if our military is at great risk of not being able to win … well, it doesn’t have much deterrent value.

Our potential enemies can see this; the American public, not so much.

At present, the U.S. military is roughly half the size it needs to be. Moreover, most of its primary equipment (planes, ships, tanks, etc.) is 30 to 40 years old. Soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and guardsmen are training only a fraction of what they should to be competent in battle.

Yet senior leaders in the Pentagon, White House spokespersons, and even members of Congress who have access to the facts (and should know better) continue to say that we have the best military in the world, as if saying so makes it so. It does not.

Let’s look at the numbers, using references from near the end of the Cold War, when the U.S. last confronted a major competitor on a global stage. Recall that until the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, the U.S. maintained forces able to compete with the Soviets in many regions at once, primarily in Europe (in land and air) but also across the seas where naval power was essential.

Back then, Washington had to focus only on one capital and the ambitions of one authoritarian regime. Regardless of where military actions occurred, the signals reverberated to Moscow.

Today, the U.S. must account for regimes in Moscow, Beijing, Tehran, and Pyongyang, and a host of smaller powers and terrorist regimes that challenge U.S. interests. They have different objectives and possess different cultures, values, and networks.

Just because the U.S. acts in the Middle East to thwart Iran doesn’t mean that China alters its activities vis-à-vis Taiwan or its push on territorial claims in the South China Sea, or that Russia lessens its assault of Europe or attempts to divide NATO. They pose different threats to the U.S. in different ways.

What they have in common is the objective of displacing the United States as a global power and reducing America’s ability to shape the future in ways that benefit Americans.

To compete on a global stage against a multitude of adversaries who collaborate against the U.S., at least opportunistically, America must possess military power commensurate with the realities of the current world, not one that is imagined years from now nor held in fond memory.

Consider the following:

In the late 1980s, the Navy possessed nearly 600 ships, keeping approximately 100 at sea on any given day. Today, it has 292 yet maintains the same number deployed, thus working both ships and crew twice as much. It is not uncommon for ships to be 15% undermanned.

In 1989, the Army had 770,000 soldiers in its active component. Today, it has 452,000, shrinking by 33,000 last year alone. By the end of this year, it will shrink further, to 445,000.

Since 2011, the Army has lost 121,000 troops, 22% of its force. The service is the smallest it has been since the 1930s. Most of its major weapons were purchased in the 1980s.

During the Cold War, the average Air Force pilot flew more than 200 hours a year and often exceeded 300 hours. Our pilots made fun of their Soviet counterparts for flying half that number. Today, the average Air Force pilot flies fewer than 130 hours, while their Chinese competitors fly 200+.

The average age of an Air Force fighter is 30, older than the pilots flying the aircraft. The average age of the majority of refueling aircraft is 60 years–as old (or older) than the parents of the pilots flying them.

Fourteen years ago, America committed to modernizing its portfolio of nuclear weapons. Since then, our nuclear enterprise hasn’t produced a single new weapon. Meanwhile, China has produced 100 in nuclear missiles just the past year and is on track to quadruple its inventory by 2030.

Iran is near-nuclear, having amassed enough uranium enriched to 60% to make a half-dozen warheads in 30 days if it committed to push the enrichment process to 90%, which it is capable of doing. Iran already possesses the largest inventory of ballistic missiles in the Middle East and is placing satellites in orbit to refine militarily relevant technologies.

Although Russia has taken a beating in its war against Ukraine, it has moved to a wartime economy and is making more missiles and tanks now than before it invaded Ukraine. New equipment is rapidly replacing the old Soviet inventory that Russia has consumed or lost in the past two years.

And the soldiers who have survived the Russia-Ukraine war to this point are battle-hardened; U.S. forces last saw major combat when in Iraq, nearly 20 years ago.

Perhaps things wouldn’t be so worrisome if we could count on strong, reliable allies. Unfortunately, their story is worse.

During the Cold War, West Germany had 5,000 main battle tanks. Today, it has 300 Leopard IIs, of which fewer than 100 are considered operational. But that’s better than in 2021, when only 13 were available for deployment.

Germany’s defense minister has reported that the country won’t be able to field a ready division until 2025. Its military infrastructure is so decayed that it will take €300 billion (about $329 billion) and 50 years to modernize.

In the United Kingdom, the army is the smallest since 1710 and leaders have said they would struggle to put a single division in the field. Britain’s military services combined (160,000 service members) are smaller than the U.S. Marine Corps at 174,000. The Royal Navy possesses a mere 20 surface combatants.

France only has 19 large surface warships. In the days since the Cold War, the number of France’s tanks has dropped from 1,349 to 222 and the number of fighter aircraft from 686 to 254. A senior defense leader has questioned whether the French military could operate longer than four days in high-intensity combat.

Japan, a major U.S. ally in the Pacific, reportedly has such a limited inventory of munitions that its ships and aircraft could sortie only three times before having nothing more to shoot.

Back at home, 3 out of 4 young Americans are ineligible for military service, without a waiver, due to physical or mental health issues, obesity, criminal records, or substance abuse.

The recruiting environment is so bad that the Navy has increased the maximum age for new enlistees and has begun accepting enlistees in the lowest category of aptitude testing. In the Army, all captains are now automatically promoted to major. In the Air Force, all officers in flight school graduate, with less than one-quarter of 1% failing due to lack of demonstrated proficiency.

Many Americans perceive the military as more interested in pushing social policy agenda programs than in ensuring that our forces are able to win in combat.

Clearly, we have a problem.

All of this is captured in gory detail in The Heritage Foundation’s recently released 2024 Index of U.S. Military Strength. The point of the index is twofold: to inform Americans about the state of their military and to prompt Congress and the Biden administration to do something about correcting the multitude of problems in our country’s ability to defend itself and its interests in a very dangerous world that seems to be spiraling out of control.

Regular citizens can see to their needs for employment, food, medical care, personal protection, and spiritual fulfillment. They help each other in times of distress and routinely come together to celebrate successes in life. But they cannot defend the country at the individual or community level. That responsibility lies with the federal government, which is failing at the task.

This must change, and Americans should demand it. Waiting until the next crisis is upon us will be too late.

Originally published at The Daily Signal

Why Are Leaders All Over The World Warning That World War III Is Very Close? 　 　    

If you are like me, you can sense that the world has gone completely chaotic, and is knocking on the door of Armageddon and the Great Tribulation. Pastor Steve <><

Breaking News Updates – January 20, 2024

Why Are Leaders All Over The World Warning That World War III Is Very Close?
 BY MICHAEL SNYDER/END OF THE AMERICAN DREAM JANUARY 20, 2024
Prominent leaders all over the globe are starting to publicly acknowledge that World War III is coming with British Defense Minister Grant Shapps warning that we are now in a “pre-war world”.

Prominent leaders all over the globe are starting to publicly acknowledge that World War III is coming.  In many cases they are expressing hope that it can still be avoided, but that becomes less likely with each passing day.  

Multiple parties are escalating the conflict in the Middle East, the war in Ukraine has entered a dangerous new phase, and the election that just happened in Taiwan has made a Chinese invasion much more probable.  

So what is going to happen if major powers start tangling with one another all over the planet?  We really are on the brink of the unthinkable, but most people in the general population have no idea how dire things have become.

On Monday, British Defense Minister Grant Shapps warned that we are now in a “pre-war world” and that western powers could soon find themselves fighting Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea…

…now is the time for all allies and democratic nations across the world to… make sure their defence spending is growing too. Because as discussed, the era of the peace dividend is over. In five years time we could be looking at multiple theatres including Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea.

…we find ourselves at the dawn of this new era. The Berlin Wall a distant memory but we have come full circle, moving from a post-war to a pre-war world. An age of idealism has been replaced by a period of hard-headed realism.

I was stunned that he was willing to give the public such an honest assessment.

But of course he is right.

Multiple wars are coming.

U.S. officials are issuing similar warnings.  Here is one example…

A source inside the Pentagon has warned Daily Express US that “we are on the brink of World War 3” amid surging conflict in the Middle East sparked largely by Iran.

The source inside the Pentagon that issued this rather ominous warning is a man named Nicholas Drummond, and he claims that the current war in the Middle East could literally result in “the end of Iran”…

Defence expert Nicholas Drummond echoed concerns that the conflict in the Middle East could potentially escalate but warned that if Tehran directly attacked Israel, the ensuing war would be “the end of Iran”.

So exactly what sort of weapons would be required to bring about “the end of Iran”?

You might want to reflect on that for a moment.

There is also a lot of talk about World War III in Russia.  In fact, one of Russia’s most prominent news anchors named Vladimir Solovyov recently told his audience that our planet is “moving towards World War III”…

“We are moving towards World War III. In my opinion, it’s already underway. By the way Trump thinks so too,” the Russian presenter added, as he tried to cut to a soundbite of the former president condemning U.S. strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.

Yes, he was actually quite correct about Donald Trump.

Not too long ago, Trump publicly warned a crowd in Iowa that “we’re very close to World War III”…

“World War III, we’re very close. I don’t know if you feel it. I don’t know, madam attorney general, if you feel it, but we’re very close to World War III when you see these discussions taking place.”

Personally, I am entirely convinced that World War III has already started, but what Trump and others are talking about is the hot phase when missiles start flying all over the place and millions of people die.

And we are so close to that right now.  The following comes from a Daily Mail article entitled “The descent into World War 3: How Russia, Iran and China are simultaneously making moves that will drag us all into conflict”…

Leaked German intelligence documents suggest Berlin expects Russia to launch another wave of attacks to overwhelm Ukraine, and is scrambling to come up with contingency plans in the event Russian troops march westward from Belarus.

Civil Defence Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin sent shockwaves through Europe as he said there “could be war in Sweden”.  Referring to emergency planners and authorities who should prepare for worst-case scenarios, he said: “If there is one thing that keeps me awake at night, it is the feeling that things are moving too slowly.”

Swedish military commander-in-chief General Micael Byden supported this take, saying Swedes should prepare mentally for the possibility of a conflict in light of the rising global tensions and the constant threat posed by Russia.

The Swedish general, who visited Ukraine’s eastern front in December, later told Aftonbladet newspaper: “My ambition with this is not to worry people; my ambition is to get more people to think about their own situation and their own responsibilities.”

Sweden’s bid to access NATO, which only needs a green light from Turkey and Hungary, has also increased fears of a retaliatory move by the Kremlin.

In December, a few months after Finland joined the Western alliance after ditching its neutral stance, Vladimir Putin ominously said: “They [the West] took Finland and dragged it into NATO! Why, did we have any disputes with Finland? All disputes, including those of a territorial nature in the middle of the 20th century, have all been resolved long ago.

“There were no problems, but now there will be, because we will now create the Leningrad military district there and definitely concentrate military units there.”

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sweden has been providing aid to the war-torn country and is one of the nations training Ukrainian pilots ahead of the delivery of military aircraft.

Deputy Chair of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev claimed in a post to X in early December that there hasn’t been such a high threat of “direct confrontation” between Russia and NATO since the Cold War, criticizing President Joe Biden’s administration for funding Ukraine’s fight against Russia and causing a prolonged war.

Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the Russian-state-owned broadcaster RT, predicted on Monday that World War III will “definitely” break out in the Middle East.

In a series of posts to X, formerly Twitter, Simonyan, who the U.S. State Department deems a Kremlin propagandist, raised questions about when world powers, including the United States, would spark a major conflict. 

“And now the third world war,” Simonyan posted to X Monday evening. “Whether a world war will break out now or a little later depends on whether Washington believes that it will be useful to it now, before the elections, or vice versa. Judging by the choral silence of the American media, they are still thinking.”

“A world war will definitely start,” Simonyan said in a separate post on Monday. “And with almost complete probability – precisely in the Middle East.”

The Israel-Hamas conflict threatens to spread violence across the Middle East, with Iran’s so-called ‘Axis of Resistance’ – including Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels – increasing their attacks on Israel and commercial shipping routes, prompting the UK and US to launch a series of devastating strikes by air and sea.

Further East, Taiwan’s election of a new democracy-loving president has angered Beijing even further, with a Chinese invasion of the island nation in the coming years looking ever more likely.

It is likely that the Middle East will be the first flashpoint to fully erupt.

The region has become so unstable over the past couple of months, and the entire world was stunned this week when Iran decided to launch missiles and drones into Iraq, Syria and Pakistan…

Within 24 hours, Iran launched missile and drone strikes on targets in three countries — Iraq, Syria and Pakistan — and took the extraordinary step of announcing its responsibility for the attacks, triggering anger from its neighbors.

So why did Iran do this?

The Iranians claim that the strike in Iraq targeted “an Israeli spy hub”…

Baghdad recalled its ambassador to Iran after the Monday night attack on its northern semi-autonomous Kurdistan region killed four civilians and injured at least six. Tehran said the strike targeted an Israeli spy hub near the U.S. consulate in Erbil, the Kurdistan regional capital city. Iraqi Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani rejected the Iranian claim, describing the attack as a “crime against the Kurdish people.”

Iraq’s Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, called the attacks a “violation of international law” and said it would file a complaint with the U.N. Security Council. France’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Iran was “contributing to the escalation of regional tensions — and it must stop.”

As for the strikes in Syria and Pakistan, the Iranians claim that they were trying to hit Sunni groups that commit acts of terrorism…

Tehran also hit what it said were Islamic State targets in northern Syria in tandem with its strikes on Iraq. It then went on to target the headquarters of a Sunni armed group in Pakistan’s western Balochistan province near the Iranian border.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that it “strongly condemns the unprovoked violation of its airspace by Iran” which it said killed two children and injured three more. It added that “it is even more concerning that this illegal act has taken place despite the existence of several channels of communication between Pakistan and Iran.”

In response, Pakistan launched strikes on separatist militants inside Iran on Thursday with Iranian media saying several missiles hit a village in the Sistan-Baluchestan province that borders Pakistan, killing at least nine people, including four children.

The tit-for-tat strikes are the highest-profile cross-border intrusions in recent years and could potentially draw Pakistan into the war in the Middle East.

And let us not forget that Pakistan has nuclear weapons.

It is very unusual for Iran to be this aggressive directly instead of using it’s proxies to do it’s dirty work.

And Iran’s Defense Minister is promising that his nation will not hesitate to conduct similar missile strikes in the future…

The morning after Iranian attacks on neighboring Pakistan and Iraq, Iran’s defense minister vowed Wednesday that his country would “not set any limits” on using its missile capabilities against enemies whenever necessary.

“We are a missile power in the world,” the minister, Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, told reporters at a Cabinet meeting, according to state media. “Wherever they want to threaten the Islamic Republic of Iran, we will react, and this reaction will definitely be proportionate, tough and decisive.”

Meanwhile, the IDF and Hezbollah continue to pummel one another along Israel’s northern border…

The Israeli armed forces carried out a massive wave of airstrikes and artillery fire against targets in the Saluki valley in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, following repeated attacks against Israeli targets by the Lebanese terror organization Hezbollah.

According to Israel Defense Forces, the terror group “makes extensive use” of the valley for its activities, hiding its weapons and infrastructures in the valley’s forested areas.

According to Lebanese reports, the Israeli airstrike was among the largest of the war so far, hitting 15 different targets in at least 30 launched strikes.

And on Tuesday the U.S. military actually hit the Houthis in Yemen with a “pre-emptive attack” because the Houthis were apparently getting ready to launch more anti-ship ballistic missiles…

On Tuesday US forces carried out another round of strikes on Houthi sites in Yemen, but this time the operation is being dubbed a “pre-emptive” attack that came in response to militants preparing missile launches on the ground in real time.

“US forces struck and destroyed four Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles,” a Central Command (CENTCOM) statement saud. “These missiles were prepared to launch from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and presented an imminent threat to both merchant and US Navy ships in the region.”

War is here.

In fact, 2024 is going to be a year of war, and wherever conflict happens the U.S. is almost certainly going to be involved.

So how will the American people respond as the world erupts in flames?

In recent weeks, we have seen crazed protesters in support of the Palestinians do some very alarming things in Washington, New York, Los Angeles and elsewhere.

But the truth is that World War III is still only in the very early stages.  So what is going to happen once global events spiral completely out of control?

Unfortunately, I believe that it won’t be too long before we find out.

Originally published at End Of The American Dream – reposted with permission.

Prophetic Mega-Trends Reshaping Our World In 2024 　 　    

I have had the opportunity to listen to Mark Hitchcock at Prophecy Conferences and he is indeed true to the Word, and aligns prophecy with current events in a marvelous fashion. Enjoy the following article.

Maranatha, Pastor Steve <><

Breaking News Updates – January 10, 2024

BY MARK HITCHCOCK/ HARBINGER’S DAILY JANUARY 10, 2024

AI, China’s impact on global events, upcoming elections, major developments in Israel, and many more events are shaping the world in 2024. I would like to provide a brief overview of what I consider “six mega-trends” for the upcoming year, which carry important prophetic significance.


#1 — Artificial Intelligence

The first prophetic mega-trend that I see is AI. Artificial intelligence has really come on the scene in a dramatic way over the last year, but it’s going to continue to accelerate into a mushroom as we go into 2024. 

All the things that come from AI will be tools that will be used by the Antichrist. It’s clear that he’ll come and exploit this kind of technology in his domination of the world; therefore, it’s important to keep up to date on what is happening in the development of AI.

#2 — China’s Impact On Global Events

China, I believe, will be the leader of the kings of the East, mentioned in Revelation 16, that will be part of the campaign of Armageddon.

Just in the last few days, the country has been talking about the reunification of China, which means taking Taiwan and making it part of the communist regime.

Many people believe that China right now is sensing US weakness. They look ahead to next November, when someone else could be elected into office, and believe that China is going to seize the opportunity between now and the elections to attack Taiwan. This is something that we have to keep our eyes on.

The elections this coming year are a huge issue that will determine, in many ways, our country’s future. China could very well act this year, maybe early in the year, because they’re sensing US weakness and take Taiwan, just as Russia has invaded Ukraine.

#3 — Digital Currencies

Another prophetic mega-trend is digital currencies, which are paving the way to the one-world economy of the Antichrist.

#4 — Narratives Surrounding Climate Change

Another point that we often overlook is climate change. Climate change is being grossly over-exaggerated to exert greater control over people’s lives. Just last month, the COP28 annual UN Climate Change Conference was held in Dubai. Climate change is being whipped up constantly as an “existential crisis” for the world–and that’s simply not true.

I recently read a book on climate change called “False Alarm.” The author actually believes in climate change and that human beings contribute to that through carbon dioxide, but says it’s massively over-exaggerated. According to the author, if America shuts down all fossil fuels today, it would only lower the temperature by a mere .3º Fahrenheit by 2100.

What we see again is that the creation of a crisis can bring about compliance and gain control. That is what climate change is, and it’s paving the way for the global control that we will see exercised by the Antichrist.

#5 — Russia

The fifth prophetic mega-trend is Russia. An article this week stated that Russia’s ties with Israel are at the lowest point since the fall of the Soviet Union. Another article called it the “end of a friendship” between Israel and Russia.

Russia has chosen to align itself with the Palestinians in this Israel-Gaza war. As a result, their relationship with Israel is at a near all-time low. This development points toward the future war described in Ezekiel 38-39.

#6 — Israel and the Middle East

Finally, the most important and significant mega-trend is Israel and the Middle East. This is the flashing red light.

We are more than 90 days into the Israel-Gaza war, and recent events that are happening in Israel could cause this conflict to explode into a wider battle.

Israel’s mission to hunt down Hamas is stoking fears of an escalation of this war. On Tuesday, Israel assassinated the person that many believed to be the number two leader of Hamas. Saleh al-Arouri was assassinated in Beirut, Lebanon, and was the linchpin of relations between Hamas, Iran, and Hezbollah.

Of course, this has been decried by Hezbollah, Iran, Lebanon, and others, but Israel has vowed to neutralize–a nice word for assassinate–the leaders of Hamas, tracking them down wherever they are, even after the war is over. Most of them can be found in Lebanon, Qatar, and Turkey.

Last week, an Israeli airstrike in Syria killed a senior figure in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, showing Israel is also assassinating leaders from Iran as well.

Wednesday was the fourth anniversary of the American drone attack in Iraq, ordered by President Trump, that killed the Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. Iran had scheduled a big ceremony in commemoration of Soleimani on Wednesday morning. However, on the road to the cemetery, two explosions changed their plans and killed approximately 100 people.

Blame for this has not yet been assigned. Iran has called it a terrorist attack. Certainly, Israel could have been behind this, but it may have been Sunni Muslims attacking the Shiites in Iran; we may never know. Nevertheless, all of this is stoking fears of escalation.

Meanwhile, Turkey has just arrested 33 People who were suspected of being Mossad agents, which is essentially Israel’s version of the CIA. Turkey believes they’ve uncovered an Israeli spy ring and are looking for 13 more individuals they insist have links to Mossad. 

Turkey has said very clearly that if Israel attacks any Hamas leaders on Turkish soil, there will be serious consequences. They have also stepped up their support for Gaza since October 7th.

The Spark That Ignites The Fuse

Iran is obviously a veteran enemy of Israel, but we can also now see Russia and Turkey’s relationship with Israel deteriorating. These are the three key players in the Ezekiel 38 invasion. All three of these relationships with Israel have come to an all-time low.

This area of the world today is experiencing a series of pinprick attacks that constantly put more and more gas on the fire. Behind all of this, you have the Israel-Gaza war that shows no signs of dwindling.

Add to that what’s happening over in the Red Sea with the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who are firing at American warships, and Iranian warships now entering the Red Sea.

All of these different events, or the combination of them, could easily be the spark that ignites the fuse to blow up this Middle East powder keg and can so easily precipitate the war of Ezekiel 38.

Over the last few weeks, I read a book by Dr. David Jeremiah called “The Great Disappearance.” He opens the book with these words:

“You and I are privileged to stand on the cresting waves of prophecy, to live in a time closer to the return of Jesus Christ than any other generation in the history of the world. We sense the nearness of His return; we see the signs of the times; we know the world is reaching a climactic point of unparalleled crisis.”

I think we all sense that. And it should lead all of us to say, Even so, come Lord Jesus.

Originally published at Harbinger’s Daily – reposted with permission.

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Global Conspiracy to Steal the Land of Israel by James Sundquist

This is a reposting of a great slide series by author James Sundquist. James is an expert in discernment ministries and Gospel acoustic guitar playing. James compiled this years ago but my oh my, how appropriate it is for today. It is cutting edge in order to understand what in the world is going on in our times. For your spiritual nourishment, please watch it all! In Christ, Pastor Steve <><

Global Conspiracy to Steal the Land of Israel by James Sundquist

What An Expanded War In The Middle East Could Look Like 　 　    

Breaking News Updates – October 17, 2023

What An Expanded War In The Middle East Could Look Like
 BY MORDECHAI KEDAR/JNS.ORG OCTOBER 17, 2023
If the Israeli public wants to survive, it must prepare–mentally and physically–for war with the Iranian octopus that has managed to establish its grip on Gaza and the failed countries adjacent to Israel: Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen–all countries that have almost nothing to lose.

I hesitated quite a bit about whether to publish this piece because of the panic it might cause in Israel. However, in the Middle East environment and particularly in Iraq, these things are known and serve as a topic of open discussion, so it is unthinkable that the Israeli public should not be aware of them as well, especially since they concern Israelis much more than the citizens of Iraq.

A source I’ve known for years–an expatriate from the Middle East, a supporter of Israel, who lives in Europe and is in continuous contact with people in Iran and Iraq–conveyed to me their assessment that Iran plans to launch a combined attack on Israel in the foreseeable future that will include all the forces at its disposal in several Arab countries:

In Lebanon: Hezbollah and Hamas, with many thousands of missiles, some of them precision-guided, and UAVs.

In Syria: Seventeen armed and ready combat units (“militias”): Fatimiun, Zinbioun, Nujabaa’, Hezbollah, Abu Al-Fadhl Brigade, ‘Asaa’b Ahl al-Haq, Khorasani Brigade and more. Iran has transferred a very large number of missiles and UAVs to Syria, and these are ready to be launched.

In Iraq: Dozens of militias, armed with missiles and UAVs.

In Yemen: The Houthis, who have Iranian long-range missiles and UAVs capable of reaching Israel.

In Gaza: Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, with missiles capable of disabling the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli Air Force bases.

It is likely that Iran will not launch anything directly from its own territory, so as not to expose itself to retaliation.

What follows is my interpretation:

Under the pretext of the duty of the Muslim world to save the Al-Aqsa mosque from the Israeli occupation and oppression, Iran will conduct a staged, comprehensive, integrated and coordinated attack on Israel. The first phase will be a shower of missiles and UAVs from all the aforementioned arenas together; the Iranian estimate is that the stock of Iron Dome interceptors will run out within two to three hours, after which the Israeli skies will be open and the air force degraded or grounded.

The first phase, the aerial one, will be accompanied by a cyber-attack on Israeli infrastructure systems. After a full day of cyber-attack and a rain of missiles and UAVs on military bases and civilian infrastructure, the second phase will begin. This will be a coordinated ground attack from Lebanon, Syria and Gaza by infantry forces mounted on dirt bikes and ATVs and equipped with anti-tank weapons, that will attack Israeli ground forces in order to reach Jewish settlements as quickly as possible.

The calculation of the Iranians is that the mobilization of Israel’s reserves will take several days and will at best be partial due to the chaos that will ensue from the initial attack. IDF reinforcements will not arrive in time to the various fronts, and the regular forces will collapse within hours in the face of the ground assault, as happened in the Suez Canal and the Golan Heights during the Yom Kippur (1973) war.

The invasion of ground forces from Syria, Lebanon and Gaza will focus on Israeli settlements, with the aim of demoralizing the Israeli public and forcing the government to surrender in order to save the lives of the many Israeli civilians who will be captured by the Arab and Iranian militias. The Israeli media and especially the social media groups will increase panic among the Israeli public.

It is not clear what role the Iranians will assign to the Palestinians in the war. However, it is likely that Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Palestinian Authority will encourage them to do everything in their power to harm Israelis, the army, the police and civilians moving on the roads, in addition to attacks on settlements and military bases.

In addition, the Iranians expect Arabs in the Galilee and Negev to carry out actions against the IDF such as blocking roads, damaging bridges, spilling oil on roads, blocking intersections, damaging high voltage lines and attacking Jewish settlements (“May 2021 on steroids”).

Due to the fact that Israel’s National Guard is not yet operational, these actions will cause great damage.

The international arena:

Russia and China, Iran’s allies, will “call on both sides to cease violence,” will support Iran almost openly and provide it with information about what is happening in Israel. Turkey will join the call to cease violent actions but will implicitly support Iran. 

In the Arab and Islamic world, crowds will come out for demonstrations of support for Iran and its action to eliminate the Zionist entity, similar to the support the crowds gave to Hassan Nasrallah in the 2006 Second Lebanon War. This time, unlike in 2006, Saudi Arabia will not take a negative position towards the attack on Israel.

The American and European governments will not intervene militarily but will content themselves with words because no one in the West is looking for another war zone in addition to the Ukrainian one, which is emptying NATO’s ammunition depots and drying up its leaders’ desire to intervene in wars that are not theirs.

Some will see the Iranian attack as an opportunity to get rid of the “headache” that Israel has caused them for years. This view has intensified in recent months after the internal turmoil in the State of Israel, which projects the image of a conflicted and messy country with a depleted civil force that has lost all will to mobilize and fight and on the other hand–a directionless, irresponsible, powerless government that cannot even deal with people blocking roads.

From the point of view of the West, the loss of Israel would not be so terrible, because in any case, the Middle East turned its back on the West when Saudi Arabia and its Gulf partners–countries much more important than Israel–decided to turn their backs on the weak Western coalition and join the strong and growing Eastern Alliance that includes Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and more.

The Iranian government is very impressed by the continued desire of the Americans in particular and the West, in general, to appease them, lift the sanctions and accept it as a respected member of the family of nations, while demonstrably ignoring the Iranian race towards the bomb. This Western behavior instills in the hearts of the decision-makers in Iran the feeling that no one in the West will do anything on the practical, military level to stop an air and ground attack on Israel such as the one described above.

The U.S. forces deployed in eastern Syria are meant to protect American interests, not Israeli ones, and Iran has already demonstrated several times that it has no problem attacking these American forces with missiles and drones. The American administration knows the negative attitude of the liberal majority of American Jewry towards Israel, particularly in recent months, and therefore is not afraid it will pay too great a public and political price if it allows Israel to deal with the Iranian invasion on its own. Biden will of course declare to the cameras that “Israel has the right to defend itself,” but he will try not to take actual steps.

A coordinated missile and UAV attack is not a theory; Iran has already done this in Saudi Arabia, on Sept. 14, 2019, and this attack caused enormous damage to Saudi Arabia’s oil export capacity, reducing it for many months. This was probably the reason for Saudi Arabia’s avoidance of joining the Abraham Accords and a factor that pushed Saudi Arabia into recently abandoning the understanding it had with Israel and joining the Iranian camp. The United States under Trump’s presidency, and Europe, did nothing against Iran following the attack in 2019, so it is certain that today they will do nothing when Biden is the president.

I don’t know how realistic this scenario of an air and ground attack on Israel is, but even if the chance of it happening in the foreseeable future is only one percent, the State of Israel must act as one united entity, and it is very important that the coalition work with the opposition in order to prepare the country and military for this scenario.

If the Israeli public wants to survive, it must prepare–mentally and physically–for war with the Iranian octopus that has managed to establish its grip on Gaza and the failed countries adjacent to Israel: Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen–all countries that have almost nothing to lose. Qatari money and the jihad media channel Al Jazeera are constantly pouring jet fuel on the fire of hatred for Israel and preparing public opinion in the Middle East and the wider world for the great, final campaign.

Qatari money has also bought Western politicians so that they would not see what Qatar does not want them to see, from the violation of human rights and foreign workers in Qatar to what Qatar’s ally–Iran–is planning to do to Israel.

It’s time to wake up. This dangerous scenario may be realistic.

Originally published at JNS.org – reposted with permission.

**************************************************************

There is a lot of needless “worry” and “anxiety” in the article above, mindsets that should not exist with Christians who are born from above! Has the author forgot about the Six Day War in 1967 or the Yom Kippur war 1973? Has this nation not been resurrected by the Lord on May 14, 1948 in order to fulfill the 70th Week of Daniel? Who on God’s green earth does not expect these attacks? My only question is how will the Lord deliver Israel from her enemies and expand her borders? Amen and amen. Shalom to Israel…… Jesus is Lord.

Pastor Steve <><