Report Dates:
August 1, 2006 | August 2, 2006 | August 3, 2006
August 4, 2006 | August 5, 2006 | August 6, 2006
August 7, 2006 | August 8, 2006 | August 9, 2006
August 13, 2006 | August 14, 2006 | August 17, 2006
August 21, 2006 | August 29, 2006 |
----------------------------------
Isreal News August 2006
==================
To Our WindowViewers
The following message is one in a series of reports that we will mirror here at WindowView.
Mr. Dolan's perspective is that of a professional reporter who is located in the Middle East. For those of us who neither live there nor understand a biblical perspective for the timeline rooted in events related to Israel, then this report begins to let us experience the global and biblical relevance for what comes out of the Middle East.
From the biblical perspective we can all pray for peace, but we are also mindful of Scripture that tells us at some point we will see what looks like "peace, peace," but then a series of very serious events are to follow. The conflict of this day is merely the tip of an iceberg ... there is so much more to all this that is below the water line. Keep a watch on events, learn of their future implications, look through the window, and certainly pray for peace!
Dr. Peterson
Director, WindowView.org
==================
TUESDAY AUGUST 1, 6:00 PM
Shalom from Jerusalem,
Israeli military commanders were given government permission late last night to widen their operations in southern Lebanon, with the goal to drive all Hizbullah ground forces and rocket launchers north of the Litani River. They hope to achieve this goal before Friday, when growing international diplomatic pressure to end the fighting is expected to reach a climax. Yasser Arafat’s PLO fighters were driven out of the same area—some 15 to 18 miles north of the Israeli border on average, and about 25 miles wide—in just a few hours in 1982, but they were not as heavily armed or well trained as the Iranian-backed Lebanese fighters.
To help accomplish the goal, up to 15,000 reserve soldiers received their call-up notices early today. Thousands more remain on alert to be drafted into the army on a moment’s notice. It is not clear if the IDF will enter the main town in the zone, the ancient port of Tyre, which is a major Hizbullah stronghold. Analysts say any attempt to do so would probably involve protracted fighting, unless Hizbullah commanders order a retreat in the face of overwhelming Israeli firepower. Many analysts say capturing the town is the only way to insure that Israel’s former “Security Zone” is emptied of Hizbullah rocket launchers.
Foreign news reports say three IDF soldiers were killed this morning when a Hizbullah anti-tank rocket struck their armored vehicle during intense fighting in the village of Ayta a-Shabn, near the town of Zarit. The IDF has so far not announced the reported deaths, but has admitted that some soldiers were wounded in the fighting. Israeli army commanders said at least 20 Hizbullah fighters have been killed in heavy clashes taking place in the central and western sections of south Lebanon over the past 24 hours, supported by constant Israeli artillery fire from across the border.
The IDF said it took total control today over the town of Taibeh, near to where the Litani River bends north. The town is located close to the main Maronite Catholic town in the south, Marjayoun, which is due north of Israel’s northernmost town, Metulla. Hizbullah TV admitted that fierce clashes were taking place in that town, and in several other portions of southern Lebanon. The Shiite militia lobbed several Katyusha rockets into Israeli territory by 5:00 PM, far less than on Sunday. IDF spokesmen say they believe they have destroyed most of the militia group’s rocket launchers, but admit that Hizbullah still probably has up to 9,000 rockets in its large arsenal, including some that could strike Tel Aviv. Home Front Command officials have warned over one million Israelis to stay close to their bomb shelters despite today’s relatively light rocket barrage. Meanwhile a total closure was quietly imposed overnight in Judea and Samaria, barring all Palestinians, apart from special cases, from entering Israel. Analysts said this was designed to lessen the chances of Palestinian terrorist attacks being launched inside of Israel while fighting rages in the north.
SYRIA ON FULL ALERT
With full ground combat now going on in many locations, Syrian dictator Bashar Assad announced today that his military forces have been placed on the highest state of alert. He said Syria could not stand by while “Israeli aggression destroys our brotherly neighbor of Lebanon.” This came as Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz warned that the IDF would fire at any vehicle carrying arms from Syria into Lebanon, as it did overnight. Another Air Force strike was reported near the border today, along with the bombing of several Hizbullah positions in the Bekaa Valley just west of Syria. Despite the action, Peretz added that Israel has no intention to enter a war with the Syrians, who possess a substantial air force, a large army and thousands of Scud ballistic missiles and chemical capability. Various media reports say Iranian missile batteries have recently been set up in central Syria which can strike most portions of Israel as well.
Military analysts here in Jerusalem continue to suspect that both Hizbullah and Iranian leaders are putting intense pressure on the Assad regime to open another war front on the stragtgic Golan Heights, captured from Syria during the 1967 Six Day war. Such concerns were intensified when Iran’s foreign minister flew to Beirut yesterday to hold “urgent talks” with his Lebanese counterpart. Afterwards he told a press confernce that the Islamic regime ruling Iran was offering its “full support to Lebanon’s efforts to confront the criminal Zionist agressors.”
TECHNICAL NOTE
I wish to thank again the many folks who have written to express appreciation for these daily war updates, which are now being read by tens of thousands of people around the world, including some government and media leaders. However, Israel has suffered a partial breakdown in its internet services since the beginning of the conflict three weeks ago, due to the extra heavy e mail traffic in and out of the country and multipled overseas visits to Israeli news sites every hour. Therefore I have not been able to update my own web site for several days, nor have I been able to read any of the mail that has come into my e mail list address since the middle of last week. So please forgive me if you have written and had no response.
My internet supplier, Israel’s largest, is located in Haifa. Repeated phone calls to see what might be done to rectify the situation have been met with a recorded notice that the provider is under tremendous extra pressure due to the sitution in the north, and will try to answer as quickly as possible. So far I have not succeeded in getting through. This is just one more tiny aspect of the war that is not apparent to most people around the globe.
Speaking of the situation in the rocket-blitzed north, I had to scratch my head while listening to an interview on Britain’s Sky lunchtime news on Monday. The interviewer asked a representative of the Oxfam charity what the needs were in southern Lebanon. After a very full and graphic description of the terrible suffering that many civilians are sadly enduring there, she was asked if the group was doing anything to aid Israeli civilians suffering under daily Hizbullah rocket fire just south of the international border.
The Oxfam representative totally ignored the question, launching instead into an impassioned description of current Palestinian suffering in the Gaza Strip! But the fact is that fully one-forth of Israel’s population has been directly affected by the conflict, if not as severely in most cases as Lebanese civilians living in the main battle zone. Still, to reside in a crowded bomb shelter for three weeks in the summer heat, to have normal life turned totally upside down, with most regular business and recreational activity suspended, to be ready to rush to a bomb shelter at a moment’s notice—none of that is easy to live with, especially for the thousands of children from families not able to evacuate the affected areas for financial or other reasons. I know exactly how it feels, since I lived under the very same conditions during 1981 and 1982.
==================
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 2, 8:30 PM
Jews throughout Israel began marking the fast day of Tisha b’Av (the ninth of the Hebrew month of Av) at sundown this evening, when Jeremiah’s Book of Lamentations is traditionally read. The prophets mournful words concerning the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem will reverberate even more over the next 24 hours after northern Israeli cities and towns were struck today by the largest number of rockets since the 1967 Six Day war, and as senior officials in neighboring Syria and Iran warn that they are “prepared to defend Lebanon from Zionist agression.”
A 35 year old Israeli farmer was killed this morning on Kibbutz Sar north of Nahariya. The man instantly perished when a rocket crashed down next to him as he was out riding his bicycle, pummeling his body with shrapnel and ball bearings. He leaves behind a wife and two young daughters. Israeli television tonight showed the blood-stained site of the attack, noting that his faithful dog had refused to leave the spot where he was killed throughout the day.
Around 35 Israelis were injured elsewhere, one woman critically, as rockets struck in over 20 locations, including in Tiberius (whose streets and beaches were virtually empty all day), Safed, Nahariya, Haifa, Afula, Kiryat Shmona, and the port of Acco near Haifa. Five homes and cars were set on fire as over 210 rockets blitzed northern Israel. (Hizbullah claimed it had shot over 300 rockets by dusk). Today’s death brings the Israeli civilian toll up to 20, with 35 soldiers killed so far, including three who perished during heavy clashes yesterday. One was a Jerusalem resident who had immigrated to Israel from Philadelphia. He cut short a visit with his family there to rush back here to join his unit soon after the war began three weeks ago.
More ominously, Hizbullah fired at least one “Kybar-1” rocket today, landing over 40 miles south of the Lebanon border—the furthest penetration so far. The rockets carry an explosive payload nearly five times more powerful than the nearly 2,000 Katyusha rockets that have struck Israel since the conflict began exactly three weeks ago today. The Syrian-made rockets have a range over four times that of most Katyushas, which explains why one landed not far from the Israeli town of Beit Shean, due east of where five of the rockets struck around Afula last Friday. Another rocket actually landed in the Gilboa mountain range (where King Saul was slain over 3,000 years ago), just two miles east of the Palestinian town of Jenin in northern Samaria—demonstrating that Hizbullah’s rockets can also kill the very Palestinians that the Shiite group is supposedly supporting.
ARMY ACTION INTENSIFIES
Wednesday’s rocket barrage came as the army significantly stepped up its ground offensive throughout southern Lebanon. Over 8,000 soldiers are now operating inside the country. Heavy fighting was reported in several locations. A number of army tanks were hit by Hizbullah anti-tank rockets, but no IDF casualties were reported. The stepped up action is coming far too late according to many Israeli opposition politicians and military analysts, who particularly blame Labor party members of Prime Minister Olmert’s Security Cabinet for unnecessarily putting off the inevitable. Army leaders say they need around two more weeks to completely push Hizbullah fighters and rocket launchers north of the Litani River. However it is expected that the United States and Great Britain will fully support an immediate ceasefire call at the United Nations by the end of this week, or early next week at the latest. So the army is now in a race for time.
However, PM Olmert made clear that his forces will stay put inside Israel’s former border Security Zone until some sort of international peacekeeping force is sent to the region. That is expected to take some months, particularly since few expect Hizbullah’s defiant leaders—fully backed by Syria and Iran—to stop attacking IDF positions, even if the Lebanese government calls upon then to halt. In fact, one Lebanese cabinet minister told Sky News today that the government “fully supports Hizbullah’s resistance” against Israel’s clean out operation. Political analysts on Israel radio said the comment probably indicates that Lebanese officials suspect that Syria might be about to regain its dominant control over Lebanon due to growing street support for its Hizbullah surrogates.
Olmert maintained that Hizbullah has been decimated by the three week IDF operation, with over 700 positions destroyed. However the comment came before today’s severe rocket barrage began mid-morning, which was said to have caught the Premier by surprise. Olmert also opened a deep political fissure here in Israel by restating his full commitment to his declared intention to tear down dozens of Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria in the near future, uprooting an estimated 80,000 Jews from their homes. Several opposition politicians blasted the comment, noting that some of the IDF’s best fighters come from the very communities slated for destruction. Reminding such soldiers that their homes may soon be turned into rubble, like many have where the men are struggling to subdue Hizbullah fighters in southern Lebanon, was extremely poor timing they charged.
Meanwhile Israeli government and military leaders are keeping a wary eye on nearby Syria, where the visiting Iranian foreign minister met today with senior Syrian officials. Afterwards, the Iranian politician again stated his country’s determination to continue to fully back Hizbullah in its fight “to repel the Zionist invasion forces.” A similar statement was made today in Tehran by Iranian dictator Ayatollah Khameini. Syria’s Baathist leaders echoed the threatening comments while rebuking Israel for carrying out a daring helicopter raid overnight into the town of Baalbek, located some 60 miles north of Israel and less than 10 miles west of the Syrian border. The Bekaa Valley town, dubbed “Little Tehran” by some Lebanese, has been a Hizbullah stronghold since 1982. The IDF said it captured five Hizbullah militiamen in the town, and killed another 10, all hiding out in the local Iranian-built hospital. However they did not succeed in locating an unnamed “senior Hizbullah commander” that they hoped to find in the building.
==================
THURSDAY AUGUST 3, 7:00 PM
Israel suffered its one of its worst civilian casualty death tolls of the war today, as Hizbullah’s 23 day deliberate rocket assault upon known civilian centers throughout northern Israel continued unabated. Seven Israeli civilians had been slain by sundown, even though the number of rockets fired by then was less than half that of yesterday’s record 215. Three perished when Syrian-and Iranian supplied rockets came crashing down around the hard hit border town of Ma’alot, which made world headlines in May 1974 when PLO terrorists attacked an apartment building and then took hostage over 100 Israeli pupils huddled inside the communities high school, leaving over 20 teenagers dead. Another four people were killed today in the mixed Arab-Jewish port town of Acco, located due north of Haifa.
Analysts said the relatively high casualty rate may be at least partially due to growing public weariness with having to spend many hours every day in crowded bomb shelters, made worse by an intensifying mid-summer heat wave and today’s Tisha b’Av fast day—observed by many Israelis. On top of that, the radical Shiite group fired rockets and mortar shells into Israel for the first time during the night, causing many citizens to rush to shelters where they stayed put until dawn.
Meanwhile three IDF soldiers were confirmed to have died—the third in just the past few minutes—when their tank was struck by Hizbullah fire in southern Lebanon. As of this morning, 81 soldiers were in several hospitals being treated for wounds sustained in the war, three of them in very serious condition. Nearly 30 civilians were also being treated before today’s deadly rocket blitz added to that number. Unconfirmed foreign media reports say at least two additional soldiers have also been killed during today’s fierce clashes with highly-trained Hizbullah fighters.
As more IDF troops pour into south Lebanon, the Israeli government has stated that army commanders have been instructed to establish at least a six kilometer (about three and half mile) wide enclave by this evening. The army will then use that sanitized border zone—where some 25% of the 2,000 plus Hizbullah rockets that have struck Israel have been fired from—to push forward up to the Litani River.
The action will effectively recreate the buffer “security zone” that existed from June 1982 until May 2000. IDF forces will continue to clean out local pockets of Hizbullah fighters as necessary, say army commanders, until some sort of international force can take possession of the border area—finally fulfilling UN Resolution 1559 to clear the area of non-governmental militias while allowing the Lebanese army to take control of the zone. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said today that an international force of at least 15,000 soldiers will be needed to control the zone. Efforts to create such a force are beginning at the United Nations in New York.
QUESTIONABLE NUMBERS
In Beirut, several Lebanese government leaders continued to justify Hizbullah’s daily deliberate attempts to slaughter Israeli civilians. They did this while claiming that around 900 Lebanese civilians have perished in the three week war. However Israeli officials are skeptical of that claim, noting that Hizbullah militiamen often engage in battle while wearing civilian clothes, and so can more easily pass as civilian casualties. For instance they note that Hizbullah claimed that 15 civilians were killed during a daring IDF helicopter raid into Baalbek Tuesday night, whereas soldiers involved insisted, with videotape evidence, that all were armed fighters who engaged them in combat.
The number of Lebanese civilians confirmed to have been slain in an IDF Air Force bombing in the town of Qana on Sunday has been dramatically reduced today, from some 54 to 59, to 28. A local Lebanese hospital confirmed the smaller figure after the international group Human Rights Watch said it could only confirm 28 victims, 16 of them under age 20. However it said another 13 people who were earlier said to be in the building are unaccounted for, despite massive efforts to pull all of the victims out of the rubble. The group confirmed Israeli contentions that they may have previously fled the town, as all civilians were instructed to several days before the air raid was launched.
An army investigation into the tragedy released today said that some 150 Hizbullah Katyusha rockets had been launched from inside and right around the town in the days before the air bombing took place. The army report insisted that IDF commanders had hard intelligence that Hizbullah had fired and hidden rockets inside the four story civilian building that was struck, declaring again that it was not known in advance that civilian non residents of the building had taken shelter in its basement.
While various international human rights and aid organizations continued to loudly condemn Israel over the inevitable deaths of hundreds of Lebanese civilians in a war started by a rouge Lebanese militia operating completely away from governmental supervision along Israel’s border for over six years, the militia’s ultimate sponsor vowed again today to wipe out millions of Jewish and Arab civilians living in the world’s only Jewish-run state. The pledge also included indirect, but clear threats to overthrow pro-west governments ruling in Jordan and Egypt.
As usual, the vow to wipe Israel off of the face of the Middle East map—which experts agree could only be accomplished in a horrific nuclear war that would undoubtedly leave millions dead and injured—was made by deranged Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He told an emergency Islamic conference in Malaysia that the “main solution to the regional crisis is the elimination of the Zionist regime.” But possibly reflecting the fact that his country’s surrogate Lebanese Shiite force is currently being pummeled in Lebanon, he added that “at this stage” he was demanding “that an immediate ceasefire be implemented.”
The Iranian leader went on to condemn “regional Muslim powers” that had supposedly betrayed the Islamic cause by “doing deals under the table with the Zionist enemy”—presumably a reference to peace treaties in force between Israel, Jordan and Egypt. It should be recalled that Iran and Syria crushed an American-brokered peace treaty between Israel and Lebanon in 1983 (I actually attended the signing ceremony at a hotel in northern Israel) by unleashing a flood of Hizbullah terror attacks upon American and French peacekeeping forces, along with attacks upon Israeli forces who would have quickly evacuated the country if the treaty had not been wiped out before it could be implemented.
I will be interviewed about the ongoing Israeli-Hizbullah conflict on a Dallas-based Christian radio program that was featured earlier this week on CNN. The hour long program will air on Friday at 4:00 EST, which is 1:00 PM PST or 20:00 GMT. You may go to this link to listen live: https://www.endtime.com/radio.asp
==================
FRIDAY, AUGUST 4, 7:00 PM
Its been another day of death and destruction here in the Holy Land as well over 100 Hizbullah rockets killed and wounded three more Israeli civilians, while also setting homes, businesses, cars, forests and fields on fire. As was the case yesterday when three of eight civilian deaths were non-Jews—all of them Arab teenagers who were tending sheep near the town of Ma’alot, including one girl—today’s attacks left a 27 year old Druze woman dead in the Galilee Arab-Druze town of Marar, and another Arab killed in the village of Maj al Qum. (The third victim has just been announced, but not yet identified). One other person was severely wounded, and is expected to die, as rockets crashed down in many communities, one of them a northern Galilee kibbutz. Dozens were treated for shrapnel wounds and for shock. Police officials said a new, more deadly short range Syrian-made rocket was introduced into the conflict today, dubbed the 302. It carries a far more powerful warhead than previous Katyusha rockets fired at Israeli civilian centers until now—some 100 kilos of explosives—another possible step up to a direct Israel-Syrian clash in the coming days.
Today’s heavy Hizbullah assaults came after the deadliest day so far for Israel in the current conflict. Fourteen people, six of them soldiers and eight civilians, were killed on Thursday. Emotional funerals were held earlier today for a father and his 15 year old daughter who were slaughtered in a rocket attack on the mixed Arab-Jewish ancient port town of Acco—with the grieving wife and mother crying out the word “abba!!” as she was literally carried to the twin grave sites. Three other civilians killed in the stricken town yesterday were also buried today, including a middle aged woman. Four of the six IDF soldiers slain in heavy fighting in southern Lebanon yesterday and overnight—most of them teenagers—were also laid to rest in various parts of the small country. Foreign news reports say additional soldiers perished today, but that has not yet been confirmed by IDF officials.
TEL AVIV ON BRINK OF ATTACK?
With the Israeli death toll rapidly mounting, the Olmert government authorized the Air Force to go back into action around the Lebanese capital city of Beirut. Within the last hour, a Hizbullah target has been struck inside the city. When intelligence information arrived during the night that Syria was smuggling in weapons to aid Hizbullah fighters along the coastal road north of Beirut, (the information probably coming from Lebanese Maronite Christians who live in the area and are loathe to see Sheik Nasrallah and Syria take over their country), several bridges along the road were bombed. The coastal road runs directly up to Syria’s strategic port city of Latikiya.
As the Sabbath begins, Tel Aviv residents are now waiting to see if Sheik Nasrallah will fulfill his threat, made in a speech last night, that he would strike Israel’s largest urban center with powerful Iranian made Zelzal missiles if Beirut was hit again by IDF bombs. Speaking on Israel radio and TV outlets today, several Israeli military analysts have pointed out that such a specific threat was probably made with Iranian acquiesce, if not direct command. It is believed that Iranian Revolutionary Guards operating for many years in Lebanon have direct control over the long-range missiles. Israeli officials have warned that any missile attack upon the Tel Aviv coastal zone—which includes Ben Gurion Airport—would provoke a massive response. In fact, one of Israel’s leading newspapers, Ma’ariv, carries a bold front page headline today declaring in Hebrew that a senior IDF commander has warned that Beirut would suffer severely if Tel Aviv is attacked.
Further indicating that we may be on the brink of a much larger regional war, large anti-Israel rallies were held today in many Muslim countries, including Turkey, Shiite-ruled Iran and Shiite-dominated Iraq. Tensions here in Jerusalem were evident this afternoon as dozens of Palestinians clashed with police and paramilitary forces near the Old City. This came after Israeli officials—fearing a new warfront could develop in Judea and Samaria—banned all males under age 45 from attending Friday Muslim prayers on the Temple Mount. Hundreds of Orthodox Jews held a peaceful parade around the Old City on Wednesday night to protest the fact that police banned all non-Muslims from ascending the Temple Mount during the Jewish fast day of Tisha b’Av.
I will be giving another radio update on the escalating war today on the Moody Broadcasting Network. The interview will begin at 5:00 PM EST, or 2:00 PST, which is 21:00 GMT. If you are not in listening range of one of their many network and affiliate stations, you can listen on line at www.mbn.org. A one hour in-depth interview concerning the background of the war, taped for the Dallas-based program Politics and Religion last night, will air one hour earlier. That can be heard live on line at www.endtime.com/radio.asp I will also be giving an update tomorrow at 1:00 PM EST, or 16:00 GMT on the radio program Prophecy Today, which can be heard live on line at www.prophecytoday.com Thanks again for your prayers—they are clearly needed and appreciated.
==================
SATURDAY AUGUST 5, 7:00 PM
With the United States and France announcing an agreement within the past hour on a draft ceasefire resolution at the United Nations—but not apparently an immediate one—three more Israeli civilians—initially identified as three sisters—were killed today when a Hizbullah rocket made a direct hit on their private family home in the hard hit coastal town of Nahariya. Other rockets landed in Haifa, Kiryat Shmona (where a house was set on fire, along with more forest land) and various other communities in northern Israel, leaving more civilians injured and widespread damage. Today’s attacks came after Hizbullah rockets were ominously fired last evening at the coastal town of Hadera, just 20 miles north of the greater Tel Aviv area and only five miles from another major urban center, Netanya. Although no damage was reported, it was the deepest penetration so far during Hizbullah’s 25 day rocket blitz against Israeli population centers all across northern Israel. Meanwhile another IDF soldier has been killed in fighting in southern Lebanon, while several others were wounded. The army launched overnight helicopter raids into the area’s biggest town, Tyre, in search of Hizbullah fighters and rocket positions. They did that while warning residents of the larger city of Sidon, about 10 miles further north of Tyre, to immediately leave their homes so the IDF can conduct operations against Hizbullah positions located there.
Israeli analysts said the radical Lebanese group might have been attempting to hit a major electric power plant located in Hadera, one of the two largest plants supplying electricity to the small country. The attack, believed to have been launched from the Sidon area, was followed by televised warnings from Israel’s Home Command for all citizens residing in the center of the country, including Jerusalem, to be prepared to go to bomb shelters at the first sound of sirens. This came only hours after Iranian officials publicly admitted for the first time that they have provided long-range Zelzal missiles to Hizbullah (thought to be under direct Iranian control) that can travel some 130 miles, placing most of Israel’s 6.3 million citizens under threat. The missiles are said to carry 400 kilogram warheads, meaning they could potentially destroy whole buildings, if not entire city blocks.
Home Command officials last night indicated that even though Jerusalem is not considered to be a likely target of Zelzal attacks, residents of Israel’s capital will probably also be ordered to their shelters if the powerful Iranian rockets are directed anywhere at the middle of the country (greater Tel Aviv is only some 25 miles northwest of Jerusalem’s western suburbs). Officials also warn that any such missile attack will probably lead to the immediate cancellation of most foreign air traffic into Ben Gurion Airport, as occurred when Iraqi Scuds struck the Tel Aviv metropolitan area in 1991. Economic analysts say international insurance companies would probably not allow foreign airlines to continue operating normally if Hizbullah missiles strike such an expanded war zone. They note this would do further damage to Israel’s hard hit economy, already suffering significantly due to a virtual business shutdown in one-fourth of the country for over three weeks now and the beginnings of an overseas tourism slump.
Fear of a possible Zelzal strike increased after Hizbullah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah vowed to launch rockets at Tel Aviv if Israeli jets continued to strike Beirut. The threat did not stop the Air Force from striking Hizbullah strongholds in Beirut’s southern suburbs once again overnight. Although international media outlets claimed Nasrallah was only speaking of an Israeli air attack on central Beirut—which has not been bombed by Air Force warplanes—he actually said in his televised speech Thursday night that if Israel “bombs our capital Beirut, we will bomb the capital of your usurping entity. We will bomb Tel Aviv.” His contemptuous reference to Israel as a “usurping entity” further confirms that Hizbullah sees the escalating conflict, which it sparked by arming to the teeth over the past six years, periodically attacking northern Israel, and then suddenly kidnapping two IDF soldiers and killing seven others on July 12th after illegally infiltrating across the UN-sanctioned border, is part of a greater Islamic duty to wage jihad until Israel is completely destroyed. This exactly echoes the group’s Iranian masters, along with its Palestinian ally Hamas.
TECHNICAL NOTE: Some have written to say they do not always get my notices of radio or TV appearances in time to tune in to the programs. This is due the fact that this list has many thousands of subscribers, growing every day, and the system can only deliver a certain number of e mail messages every minute to subscribers. I will try to give as much advance notice as I can of such appearances. Speaking of which, a personal style 15 minute interview focusing on my life and work here in Israel is scheduled for broadcast on the Moody Network this coming Monday at 6:15 EST, which is 3:15 PST and 22:15 GMT. You can listen live via the web at www.mbn.org
==================
SUNDAY AUGUST 6, 5:30 PM
As the Israeli public mourns the highest daily death toll so far in 26 days of intense Hizbullah rocket attacks upon northern Israel—and that after learning that another five soldiers were killed yesterday during heavy fighting in Lebanon—the Lebanese government has rejected the United Nations draft ceasefire proposal put forward yesterday in New York. This action virtually guarantees that the intensifying fighting in Lebanon will continue for the time being. The rejection—mainly based on Lebanese opposition to any IDF forces remaining in south Lebanon until an international force can replace them—came just after an intense barrage of over 80 rockets landed in the upper Galilee region in the space of just 15 minutes around noontime. One rocket landed on the edge of Kibbutz Kfar Giladi, located in the burning Naphtali hills above the border town of Metulla.
The Katyusha crashed down in the midst of a group of reserve soldiers who were resting and saying prayers next to the kibbutz cemetery before joining the battles raging just across the border in southern Lebanon. Nine men were instantly slaughtered as rocket shrapnel and ball bearings riddled their bodies, and four others were severely wounded, one of whom has just died. Doctors say at least one more of the wounded will probably not survive. Israeli families are now being informed around the country that their loved ones have perished. A civilian resident of the kibbutz was also killed and nine others wounded. IDF officials say the rocket was fired from beyond the Litani River. Over 200 Hizbullah rockets have struck all across northern Israel so far today, wounding civilians in several locations and causing extensive damage. The bombardments came as news was released that a Hizbullah militiaman who participated in kidnapping two IDF soldiers on July 12th—which sparked the current conflict—has been captured and is being interrogated.
I know Kfar Giladi quite well, having written about it in my first book, Holy War for the Promised Land. I noted that the Israeli family who hosted me for Sabbath meals the year I lived and worked on nearby Kibbutz Hagoshrim had close friends who lived there. In April 1980, just a few months before I arrived in the area, Palestinian terrorists infiltrated across the Lebanese border and took captive a number of Kfar Giladi adults and children in the kibbutz kindergarten. Undoubtedly sensing tension from their frightened Israeli caregivers, one of the baby girls could not be comforted. After shouting out commands for the caregivers to somehow shut up the crying infant, one of the terrorists grabbed his Kalashnikov rifle and violently struck the baby’s head with it, killing her instantly. The tiny girl was the daughter of my kibbutz family’s friends. The baby’s remains lie in the very cemetery where nine Israeli reserve soldiers—many of them undoubtedly husbands and fathers—were slaughtered in today’s deadly rocket attack.
Earlier today, I received an e mail from a longtime subscriber to this news service, also named David, who is an American-born Israeli messianic believer and an acquaintance of mine. He informed me that his apartment had been largely destroyed when a rocket struck next to his building last Thursday. The blast set the building’s natural gas canisters on fire, which quickly spread to the building, destroying several apartments, including David’s. He has now moved in with his parents.
Last evening, I kept thinking about another American-born Israeli believer, Adam, who had worked with his wife until recently with one of my closest friends here in Jerusalem. I received word last week from his father-in-law, who established a Christian prayer center here in Jerusalem several years ago, that Adam was being called up to active reserve duty in south Lebanon. I was especially thinking last night how difficult this must be for him—to be suddenly yanked out of normal daily life away from his wife and two young children, and sent into a deadly combat zone. Adding to this, his wife is pregnant with twins. I felt an extra tug to pray for them, and especially Adam, last night. Then today I learned from my friend that Adam had been in intense combat yesterday, and actually spotted a Hizbullah fighter hurling a hand grenade directly at him from a small launcher. Thankfully, the hand grenade exploded in the air before it could strike him. However the action naturally left him shell shocked, and he has been removed from the battle in order to rest.
ISRAELI SUFFERING
I write all of the above after receiving several rebukes from readers of these war updates for focusing more on Israeli suffering and casualties than on the tragedy engulfing Lebanon. I worked and served in south Lebanon for two years, and personally know a number of Lebanese who have been caught up in the fighting. Indeed, their situation is a catastrophe, and I grieve over it. But I am not now stationed in Lebanon, so it is difficult for me to give an accurate account of what is going on there. On top of that, I think we must constantly keep in mind the ultimate reason why hundreds of thousands of Lebanese civilians are suffering displacement and other serious grievances today. It is the result of an unprovoked major act of war (infiltrating across an international border and kidnapping and killing soldiers while lobbing rockets at army and civilian centers in the area) carried out by some of their fellow countrymen who were allowed by their government, for whatever reason, to establish a large, heavily armed paramilitary force all along their southern border equipped with thousands of deadly short and long-range rockets, anti-tank missiles, hand grenades, etc. Of course, the local residents could not stop this if their government was either unwilling or unable to do so (some of both is the case, I suspect). But the fact is that a fair portion of the south Lebanese citizens who have been forced to flee the fighting are Shiites who DO support Hizbullah, which is why the militia could take over and control the area with little domestic opposition.
Israeli bombs have obviously killed many Lebanese civilians during the intense conflict, even if the numbers presented by officials in Beirut are probably exaggerated for propaganda purposes (a media war is also raging after all). Certainly EVERY Lebanese citizen is suffering to some degree due to IDF attacks on roads and other public infrastructure, and for many other reasons. But the Israeli public is hardly unaffected as their sons, husbands, brothers, fathers and friends join the intense ground battles to push back Hizbullah rockets from the border. Added to this is the fact that some 300,000 northern residents have also been displaced from their homes that are under daily attack from deadly Hizbullah rockets. Another 700,000 citizens have remained behind in the war zone, living in bomb shelters or rushing to them when warning sirens suddenly sound. Many Israeli families are hosting the northern refugees, just as many Lebanese citizens are housing their relatives or friends from the south. Over 40 Israelis have been killed, and many others seriously wounded, in the daily Hizbullah bombardments, including an Arab-Israeli woman and her two daughters who were slaughtered yesterday (the fact that they were all females, and Arabs at that, has mysteriously not been mentioned in most of the international TV reports I have seen over the past 24 hours).
More than this, no one in Israel is stating that their ultimate goal is to wipe Lebanon off of the world map (although you would think they were listening to some Lebanese government leaders). However that is exactly what Hizbullah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah and his Iranian patrons are stating. If you are Jewish and familiar with your people’s tortured history, as most obviously are, then such a threat alone is enough to spark anxious nightmares and intense internal suffering.
The international media continues to focus much more on Lebanese than Israeli suffering, which is another reason why it is redundant for me to do so. Certainly many of the pictures and stories from Lebanon are truly horrendous. But let us not forget that Israel thought it had left Lebanon for good in May 2000 and had no desire to ever return there, nor any claims on Lebanese territory. The IDF is certainly not deliberately targeting civilians, although they have inadvertently done so, as will sadly take place in any hot war. The fact that Hizbullah cowardly operates for the most part from built up Shiite civilian areas, and not from any marked military bases, obviously is a major factor in the relatively high Lebanese civilian death toll. The Shiite group also continues to deliberately fire its vast arsenal of rockets at Israeli population centers every day in order to kill and wound a maximum number of civilians, including fellow Arabs. Now, its jihad-crazed leader is threatening to fire long-rang Iranian missiles at Tel Aviv, which could easily set off a massive regional war.
The Bible tells us that God often allowed Israel’s enemies to strike them in order to discipline or punish His people. There is no reason to think this is not the case today. In fact, an Israeli friend who is not very observant told me just today that he thinks the current crisis is connected to statements from former and current Israeli leaders that the country’s strong military forces will bring them ultimate victory. “We can only prevail with Elohim’s help,” stated my friend. I certainly agree that Israel deserves some chastisement at this time, as does my own native United States, along with every country on earth, including Lebanon. Still, Israel’s enemies openly state that their aim is to finish what Hitler began over 60 years ago. According to the Bible that I read, that will not occur.
Let me end with some more good news. A Lebanese man that I worked with in the mid-1980s, Joseph Haddad, is now a congregational leader in the Haifa area. He recently arrived here in Jerusalem with some 50 of his Lebanese congregants—most of them Christian refugees from Hizbullah’s 2000 takeover of the southern portion of their country. They were all financially able to leave the war zone due to a generous gift from a fellow believer. Members of the group shared their emotional experiences yesterday at one of Jerusalem’s largest messianic congregations, where they were warmly embraced by their Israeli brethren. Don’t expect to see that on CNN or the BBC.
As I noted yesterday, a special interview about my life and work here in Israel is slated to be broadcast by the Moody Network on Monday. It is scheduled to air at 6:15 EST in North America, which is 3:15 in the west, and 22:15 GMT. The interview can be heard on line at that time via this link: www.mbn.org One final note: Some have written to ask what has become of the international “Gay Pride” Parade scheduled to be held in Jerusalem this Thursday. It was quietly cancelled two weeks ago due to the security situation.
==================
MONDAY AUGUST 7, 8:00 PM
Late news reports say that an unmanned Hizbullah drone loaded with powerful explosives has been shot down by IDF forces off of the coast of Haifa, some 20 miles south of the Lebanese border. The drone was thought to be heading toward Tel Aviv. Hizbullah has sent several such drones across the international border in recent years. This came after another day of heavy Hizbullah rocket fire upon northern Israel, with over 100 missiles landing in Tiberius, Safed, Ma’alot, and many civilian communities by dusk. The largest barrage—described by people on the scene as nearly nonstop during the day—has once again been directed upon the often blitzed town of Kiryat Shmona, where I lived for two years from mid-1982. Several homes there are currently on fire after taking direct strikes. Three residents were wounded in one of those attacks. The once beautiful pine tree lined Naphtali hills that loom up behind the town, which some had compared to portions of the Alps or the Rocky Mountains, are on fire yet again in dozens of places. Weary firefighters, many of them volunteers from the center of the country, say they are running low on supplies to deal with the constant rocket-ignited conflagrations.
As northern residents grow ever more weary of the daily Hizbullah onslaught, officials in Jerusalem are warning that significantly stepped up Air Force bombings in Lebanon can be expected by the end of this week if the daily barrages do not let up by then. This comes amid assessments that the Lebanese government is doing next to nothing to try to reign in the rogue militia that plunged its country into this escalating conflict. Air Force jets were once again in action today, bombing south Beirut this morning and within the last few minutes, along with other suspected Hizbullah targets near Sidon and other locations. Around 20 people were reportedly killed in the strikes, including women and children. However Israeli officials remain extremely skeptical of Lebanese civilian death toll claims, especially after it became clear that the numbers who perished in Qana early last week was greatly exaggerated. Such skepticism was greatly reinforced this evening when a “correction” was issued from the Lebanese Prime Minister’s office. During a teary speech this afternoon at an emergency Arab League summit meeting in Beirut, PM Fuad Seniora claimed that Israel had just “carried out a massacre of 40 people” in the border town of Hula. His office has just admitted that the numbers were slightly off the mark—only one person actually died in the southern village near Metulla.
Today’s Hizbullah rocket assaults followed a series of powerful rocket strikes last evening upon the port city of Haifa, killing two Arab Christian residents of the city and a Jewish man visiting from a nearby suburb. All three victims were buried under the rubble of several apartment buildings that took direct hits. An elderly doctor also died of a heart attack when rockets landed near his home. Over 40 people are still hospitalized in Haifa following the massive attack, several in very serious condition. The latest rocket blitz prompted the city’s Rambam Hospital, one of the largest in Israel, to move all patients to the basement who were in wards facing the north—the direction of Lebanon. Doctors and nurses admit it will be difficult to adequately care for the hundreds of affected patients in the crowded basement, but realize that hospital administrators had no other choice given the constant rocket onslaughts upon northern Israel by Hizbullah forces.
Meanwhile a series of funerals have been going on all afternoon in many localities around the country for the 12 reserve soldiers killed when a Hizbullah rocket landed in their midst on Kibbutz Kfar Giladi at noon yesterday. Most of the slain Israeli men, ranging in age from mid-20s to mid-40s, had wives and young families. Funerals are also going on for the five regular army soldiers killed in clashes with Hizbullah fighters yesterday. In all, 20 Israeli soldiers and civilians were killed on Sunday, making it by far the deadliest day so far of the 27 day conflict. Normal television programming was suspended on all three Israeli channels throughout the day, making the sense of growing conflict all the more evident in every part of Israel.
Another soldier has been confirmed dead today amid reports that several other casualties will be announced this evening after family members have been notified. An untold number have been wounded. Nearly 50 IDF soldiers have been killed so far, along with 43 civilians. Most of the civilian deaths in recent days have actually been Israeli Arabs. Today’s confirmed IDF death came during fierce clashes in the Lebanese Shiite town of Bint Jabail, which army commanders thought they had previously brought under control. With border clashes continuing, northern Israeli residents are said to be wondering if Hizbullah’s fanatic Muslim guerilla fighters—who hide among civilians and often shoot their rockets from towns and villages, and are told they will go to the highest heaven if they perish since they are fighting in a jihad war against the detested Jews—will actually be pushed back from the border area before a ceasefire is enforced. Military analysts agree that the Iranian and Syrian backed highly-trained fighters are proving to be much tougher to deal with than previous conventional Arab forces and Palestinian fighters. Meanwhile more Israeli civilian men are quietly receiving call-up orders to report to reserve duty.
In Beirut, PM Fuad Seniora gave an emotional speech to the visiting delegation of Arab League officials. Without ever admitting that some of his own citizens had sparked off the conflict with Israel by launching an unprovoked attack across the international border, the Sunni Muslim leader called upon “his brotherly Arabs” to unite behind Lebanon in its “struggle against the Zionist enemy.” Israeli officials were said to be distressed by his use of such a term, which some analysts note could technically be considered a declaration of war that would justify Israeli strikes upon Lebanese government positions. However few here anticipate that Israel will move away from mainly hitting Hizbullah positions and weapons supply routes overland from Syria and from the Mediterranean Sea. Analysts also noted that Seniora claimed that Israeli forces were now “occupying” his country, despite the fact that they are barely in control of the southern border strip right next to Israel. The increasingly bellicose Lebanese leader then claimed his country had “joined the Palestinians and Iraq” in being occupied by “foreign forces,” indicating his true feelings about the US-British attempt to bring stability to Iraq.
==================
TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 6:00 PM
The daily Hizbullah rocket barrage upon communities all across northern Israel continued unabated today, with over 120 rockets being fired across the Lebanese border by 6:00 PM. Several more buildings in the hard hit town of Kiryat Shmona were set on fire. Reports from the town today say the center has been virtually destroyed in the past week of heavy rocket assaults. This came as the government announced it would bus hundreds of local residents who lack the finances to evacuate the besieged town to safer locations further south. Many said they could not face a fifth week of constantly living in underground shelters. Two Israelis were wounded when shrapnel struck them in a western Galilee village this afternoon, and another civilian was hurt within the past hour in the often struck town of Ma’alot. Other rockets fell in the towns of Safed, Tiberius, Carmiel and Nahariya. This came after the army confirmed it had shot down an Iranian-made Hizbullah drone aircraft last evening off the coast of Haifa.
The army confirmed that three reserve soldiers were killed overnight as intense fighting raged near the town of Bint Jabail. One soldier from a Jerusalem suburb died after his armored vehicle was hit by a Hizbullah anti-tank rocket. This brings the number of confirmed IDF deaths to 65. Several other soldiers were wounded and evacuated from the action today. The army said it captured five Hizbullah fighters as they were attempting to set up an anti-aircraft rocket position. One of yesterday’s IDF casualties was from a family I knew when I studied Hebrew on a Jezreel Valley kibbutz, Beit Hashita, in 1982. Proving that nothing is new under the sun, the language course ended prematurely when IDF forces first entered Lebanon en masse in June of that year to push back rocket-firing PLO fighters from the border.
With the Israeli Air Force carrying out over 80 sorties in Lebanon overnight and today, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert indicated today that the inner Security Cabinet may be asked to significantly expand the ground operation in southern Lebanon when it meets in special session tomorrow morning. This comes amid mounting criticism of the campaign—which has just led to the replacement of the senior northern army commander—with many military analysts and right-wing politicians charging that massive force should have been deployed in the early days of the conflict. They say the government coalition, made up primarily of former Likud party members and Labor politicians, failed to take the bull by the horns due to their dovish views. The use of overwhelming force was the exact strategy adopted in the 1982 “Peace for Galilee” operation, in which vastly outnumbered and outgunned PLO fighters were driven from the entire border region in just a couple hours. Critics, who are still speaking fairly softly due to the ongoing conflict, say the failure to deploy any ground forces inside south Lebanon at the start of the conflict, and the over-reliance on Air Force bombings, has resulted in far more rocket assaults upon northern Israel than should have occurred. They add that the initial light ground assault only emboldened Hizbullah, which can now claim a moral and political victory, and possibly even increase its ultimate influence over the weak Lebanese government.
ON THE FRONT LINES
I received an e mail today informing me that around 30 south Lebanese evangelical Christians, some of whom I worked with during the early 1980s, were unable to get out of their small border community before the conflict intensified, and are now spending each night in the basement of their church. I have sent information to the army spokesman’s office about their presence amid concerns that Hizbullah fighters might try to draw IDF artillery fire upon the church by launching rockets from near the building.
I want to thank the hundreds of readers who have written encouraging notes in the past few days, particularly in reaction to my commentary sent out on Sunday. Some Christian readers have asked how they might pray more effectively for those directly involved. One obvious way is to intercede for the Lebanese Christians mentioned above who are suffering due to the conflict. Another is to pray for the young IDF believers who have been sent into the battlefield, along with all Israeli soldiers serving in the line of fire. A list of the believer’s names is below (some had requested that only their first names be released). I personally know many of these fine people, along with their parents.
David Boskey, Daniel Boskey, Naphtali Greenburg, Stefan Silver, Joel Golden, Elisha Ben Haim, Assi, Gil, Alon Williams, Reuven Miller Daniel Miller, Yossi Schweig, Rami Morrison, Shmuel, Eli Abramov, Dima Mazurovsky, Yigal Gittelman, Kolya Rybin, Fyodr, Joshua Meyers, Herman Haustein, Gidon Harverson.
==================
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 9, 9:00 PM
Shalom from Jerusalem,
I am very sorry to announce that this will be my last daily war update, at least for the time being. The reason is explained below. I will try to send out additional updates if the situation dramatically deteriorates, such as if we head into a direct war with Syria, as is increasingly possible with Israeli military operations due to be significantly expanded in southern Lebanon. Thanks again to the many subscribers who have written to express your appreciation for these updates.
With extremist Hizbullah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah addressing the world yet again this evening—issuing his usual anti-Israel and anti-American diatribes as if he was Osama Bin Laden, and naming his hard-line terms for ending the escalating conflict as if he were the elected leader of Lebanon, while threatening any Lebanese groups that dare to question his apparent supremacy—the Israeli Security Cabinet has voted nine to three (the three votes were all abstentions) to dramatically widen the ground offensive against the Syrian and Iranian–backed Hizbullah militia. The ministers took seven hours to arrive at their fateful decision. This came as the extremist jihad force continued to blitz Israeli cities and towns today from southern Lebanon. Army leaders—who are known to have recommended the much larger ground offensive from the start of the conflict four weeks ago today—say that beefed up IDF forces will now fight their way towards the Litani River, some 18 to 20 miles north of the Israeli border in most places. The main goal will be to completely clear the area of Hizbullah fighters and rocket launchers.
Analysts say the expanded IDF operation, which will undoubtedly involve heavy clashes and many casualties on both sides, may take at least one month to accomplish. How the United States, France and other western powers will react to the belated massive military action is not yet known. Left-wing Israeli politicians are already strongly criticizing the cabinet decision. It is certain that Hizbullah, the Lebanese government, Syria and Iran will respond fiercely to the expanded action, along with the rest of the already agitated Muslim world, even if many in the Lebanese government and nation are actually glad that Israel is finally taking the tough action that many expected, and actually wanted, from the start of the conflict. Late reports say the offensive will not begin right away, but sometime before the end of this week. But other reports say some IDF forces have already been air dropped north of the Litani River. All this comes as attempts to arrive at a ceasefire resolution falter at the United Nations in New York, mainly due to Lebanese objections to certain provisions proposed by the US and France earlier this week.
While the Israeli Security Cabinet was debating the army’s desire to significantly expand the ground operation, fierce fighting raged in many areas. Unconfirmed foreign media reports say that at least 11 IDF soldiers have been killed so far in today’s intense clashes, and many more wounded. This comes after five soldiers perished on Tuesday. Meanwhile Hizbullah fired one its powerful longer-range Syrian-supplied Fajr rockets in the direction of Tel Aviv, but it was reportedly intercepted and shot down by Israeli missiles, landing harmlessly in the city of Haifa. Footage of the downed missile is being shown on Israeli TV tonight. Fajr rockets were also fired at the Israeli town of Beit Shean, located in the northern Jordan Valley due south of Tiberius, and also at Palestinian Authority-controlled territory near Jenin in northern Samaria. Miraculously, no one was hurt in the powerful strikes, which created large craters in open spaces.
Over 60 smaller rockets also struck the decimated town of Kiryat Shmona so far today, and dozens others exploded in Ma’alot, Akko, the Golan Heights and several other locations, injuring a number of civilians and setting more homes, cars and forests on fire. In anticipation of a much more ferocious ground battle just ahead, thousands of northern border Israeli residents are currently being evacuated at government expense, many of them to tent camps being set up in the center of the country. Up until now, the estimated 300,000 northern residents who have fled the daily rocket barrages have done so at their own expense, leaving many poorer Israelis behind.
SUSPENDED UPDATES
As stated above, I must suspend these daily war updates, at least for the time being. The reason is a sad one for me personally. After living over half of my life in the land of Israel (I calculated that I officially passed the halfway mark last month), and after having possessed government-issued press credentials and a working visa since 1982, I have been informed by the press office this week—in the midst of a war—that my credentials will not be renewed. The reason is because of an Interior Ministry ruling last year that foreign journalists must fall under the general regulations for all foreign workers, such as the many Thai and Chinese agricultural laborers here in the land, along with thousands of Pilipino maids and caregivers, Romanian construction workers, etc. The law officially limits such people to a five year stay here in the land. Since I have lived and worked in Israel for nearly 26 years, I am obviously a bit over that time limit!
However, I am aware of the fact that several dozen exceptions have been made to this recently imposed journalistic limit. I am hoping and praying that I can be included in that number, but it is already taking extra efforts on my part to help make that happen. The fact is that the press office is only dimly aware, if at all, of the extensive journalistic work that I actually do, and not at all about my international speaking tours which are directly connected to my work here. I am not accustomed to going around taking about such matters. But I now feel compelled to make them aware of the scope of my activities, and so am in the process of asking specific media and other Israeli and overseas contacts for references and information on my overall work. Many have already kindly complied (with one prominent Jerusalem-based American Christian journalist referring to me as the “dean” of local Christian journalists, which I greatly appreciated, even if it made me feel a bit old!). Since this necessary process is already consuming much of my time, it seems prudent to suspend sending out these daily updates for the time being. Unlike the IDF, I simply do not have the time or energy to battle on two fronts at the same time.
Again, I deeply appreciate the many hundreds of notes of appreciation for these updates sent by many of you in recent weeks. I will continue to write and send out my monthly news and analysis report for the time being, along with my periodic World Net Daily commentaries, and the occasional war update as the situation demands it and as time permits. Thanks for your prayers on this matter, and of course also for the overall situation here in the turbulent Middle East.
==================
SUNDAY AUGUST 13, 6:00 PM
Despite the fact that both the Israeli and Lebanese governments have formally agreed to accept Friday’s UN ceasefire resolution 1701 beginning at 8:00 AM local time Monday morning, security analysts are warning that intense fighting is likely to continue for some time in south Lebanon following Saturday’s fierce Arab-Israeli ground clashes—the worst since the 1973 Yom Kippur war. Late word says the Lebanese cabinet has just postponed a meeting to discuss implementing the resolution amid growing Hizbullah opposition to the international ceasefire call.
A massive barrage of Hizbullah rockets—over 215 by 6:00 PM—has landed all across northern Israel today, including in the port city of Haifa where several people were seriously wounded. Widespread property damage is reported in many places. Other civilians have been wounded near Kiryat Shmona, where nearly 1000 rockets have landed since mid-July. Earlier today, yet another Arab Israeli—a 70 year old man—was killed when Syrian-supplied missiles struck the western Galilee, wounding nine other civilians. This came as IDF Air Force jets and warships once again bombed suspected Hizbullah targets in southern Beirut and other locations.
The Israeli cabinet endorsed the UN ceasefire call early this afternoon just as funerals were beginning for many of the 24 IDF soldiers killed during bloody clashes on Saturday—the highest one day casualty toll since the 1973 war. The bodies of five of the dead have reportedly not yet been recovered after their helicopter was shot down by heavily armed Hizbullah militia fighters north of the Litani River. Heavy fighting today is believed to be taking more lives, with Hizbullah claiming to have destroyed several more IDF tanks. Scores have been wounded in the battles, over a dozen critically. Army officers say they will need several more days to cleanse the area south of the Litani River of Hizbullah fighters, guaranteeing more ground clashes for at least the rest of this week, despite the UN ceasefire time line.
With Shiite Lebanese cabinet ministers reportedly expressing strong reservations over several provisions of the UN ceasefire resolution, especially its implied restriction on future Hizbullah activities in south Lebanon, many Israeli analysts are expressing strong doubts that the ceasefire will hold. They note that Israel is allowed to respond to any overtly offensive attacks, which they say will surely occur as Iran eggs on its surrogate force to carry on with the conflict, especially now that tens of thousands of IDF soldiers are further away from their homeland than ever before in the conflict. Indicating that it intends to foment further trouble in the region, Iran today termed the UN resolution a “defeat for the Zionist entity,” particularly denouncing the provision that effectively calls for Hizbullah fighters to be disarmed.
Israeli officials have warned that they will consider any Syrian attempt to rearm the rogue Shiite force as a violation of the UN resolution, and will attack such efforts wherever they occur. An unnamed senior IDF leader told the Haaretz newspaper yesterday that Syria continues to rearm Hizbullah forces with anti-tank missiles and longer range rockets, despite IDF efforts to stop the flow. This comes as IDF forces continue to be significantly beefed up on the extremely tense Golan Heights, as Syrian troops carry out operations to clear landmines from their side of the disputed border—which many fear is another indication that Iran is prodding its main Arab ally to open up a new front in the war. Military analysts worry that the Syrians might try to sweep down into the Upper Galilee’s Hula Valley in an attempt to cut off IDF forces and communities north and west of the fertile valley.
WAR AND PEACE?
The atmosphere in Israel this evening is surreal, to say the least. The fact that the heaviest fighting of the 33 day war came just after Israeli leaders indicated on Friday evening that they would accept the UN ceasefire call has left many people reeling throughout the country.
I attended a dinner at a (nearly empty) Jerusalem restaurant last night with over a dozen Israeli friends, along with a Beverly Hills SWAT team leader who is a Christian friend of mine who said he came here last week to show his support for Israel during this ongoing conflict. The gathering included a family from Haifa that are here seeking shelter from the daily missile barrage up north. All the Israelis agreed that the massive ground operation to clear out Hizbullah forces from Israel’s former Security Zone should have been launched much earlier in the war, when it could have been completed before UN limits went into effect.
The unanimous comments came amid mounting Israeli public and media criticism of both the military and political leadership’s handling of the war, with several politicians and analysts angrily sparring on Israel television last evening, despite the major fighting going on just across the northern border. The mounting criticism might account for the seemingly defensive tone taken by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni at a press conference this afternoon, where she explained the government’s decision to accept the UN ceasefire, saying it was very much in Israel’s favor despite the fact that the return of the two abducted IDF soldiers that sparked the conflict on July 12th was not mentioned in the body of the UN resolution. She faced sharp questioning about the resolution from several members of the Israeli press.
Despite the fact that heavy fighting continues today, many Israeli military analysts are charging that the IDF leadership relied too heavily on air strikes during the opening weeks of the war, and over-focused the bombings north of the main area of Hizbullah rocket activity in southern Lebanon, which gave the world community a powerful excuse to charge Israel with using excessive force. Meanwhile the political echelon is said by many to have hesitated far too long in giving the order to move massive ground forces into the battle for various reasons. All this points to a very acrimonious debate when the fighting finally ends, such as occurred after the Yom Kippur conflict.
PERSONAL NOTE: Thanks again for the many who have written to express gratitude for my updates, despite my announced pause to work on matters connected to my expiring journalist visa, which continues. I have had several offers of help from well-placed Israelis who are aware of my overall work here in Israel, as well as my travels abroad, and also from some prominent Christian and media leaders around the globe. Thanks to all who are praying for a positive resolution of this problem.
==================
MONDAY AUGUST 14, 8:00 PM
Shalom from Jerusalem,
Residents of northern Israel and southern Lebanon are breathing a huge sigh of relief this evening as the UN-mandated ceasefire has mostly held so far today. However Israeli military analysts continue to warn that the military timeout that ended nearly five weeks of intense warfare may be very short lived indeed, as the multi-religious Lebanese government is finally forced to deal with a monumental problem it failed to confront when IDF forces left southern Lebanon six years ago—the illegal rule of a rogue militia over the southern third and east of its country, founded and sustained by two countries far larger and more powerful than tiny Lebanon, Syria and Iran.
Expectations that the estimated 70,000 man Lebanese army, with its substantial Shiite component estimated to be around 40%, will actually be able, or even willing, to take on the militant Hizbullah militia are fairly low here in Jerusalem, even with the promised help of a beefed up UN force. That foreign “peacekeeping” soldiers will feel secure enough to even move into the area south of the Litani River as IDF forces pull back is widely questioned here, given how Hizbullah succeeded in intimidating other UN forces in the past. Therefore many analysts expect that after a brief lull in the fighting, which will unfortunately allow Hizbullah fighters to rest and regroup, the conflict will begin again, including more rocket attacks upon northern Israel. This possibility was hinted at by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert during a Knesset speech today, who pointed out that even though Hizbullah had been “dealt a harsh blow” by the IDF, the 34 day war was really only one chapter in the much greater struggle to resist Iran’s openly stated goal to annihilate the world’s only Jewish state. He also acknowledged that there had been “shortcomings” in the way the government handled the conflict, which many Israeli opposition politicians consider an understatement.
The likelihood of further fighting was also acknowledged by opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu, who told his Knesset colleagues that the time had not yet arrived to publicly question the government’s handling of the war, which took the lives of 115 IDF soldiers (seven of them only yesterday), along with over 40 civilians, and seriously wounded over 1,000 Israeli soldiers and civilians. Still, the Likud leader did note that the government’s main self-declared goals of crushing the Shiite militia, killing its populist leader, and stopping the possibility of future Hizbullah rocket attacks upon Israeli civilian centers had apparently not been achieved. In fact, some military analysts speaking on Israel radio stations and quoted in national newspapers say the IDF failure to halt daily rocket barrages upon many Israeli cities and towns, including the third largest urban center, Haifa, could embolden Syria and Iran to launch their own massive missile attacks upon Israel in the not too distant future. This possibility becomes all the more ominous given that Syria is known to possess a large chemical weapons capability, while Iran continues to develop its nuclear program.
Some security analysts say they expect Syria to become directly involved in any second round of fighting. They noted that around 30 Syrian tanks moved into the UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights in the past two days—the first time they have done so since the end of the 1973 Yom Kippur war. Although this may only be a defensive move, it is said to be very significant nonetheless. Reports in the Haaretz newspaper today say that dozens of Syrian trucks are positioned just across the international border with Lebanon, loaded with fresh arms supplies for Syria’s proxy Hizbullah fighters, probably including more rockets that can strike Israeli territory. Other reports say hundreds of Iranian “volunteers” (which are thought to be mostly highly trained elite Republican Guard soldiers and commanders) are waiting to cross the border as well.
As everyone waits to see if and when the conflict may resume, Israeli attention is also focused tonight on the deteriorating condition of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said to be slipping towards death by his doctors. As I noted last month, his passing is expected to bring many world leaders to Jerusalem for a state funeral—which will hopefully not take place in the midst of renewed fighting in Lebanon. However it is entirely possible that Syria and Iran might see such a gathering of mainly Western leaders as an opportunity to cause further trouble in the north, reinforcing their contention before Arab audiences that Israel is a foreign, Western implant that must be uprooted from the mainly Muslim Middle East.
I will be giving an assessment of the Israel-Hizbullah war today on the Moody Broadcasting network’s “Prime Time America” program, heard on several hundred radio stations throughout the United States. The interview will air at 6:00 PM EST, which is 3:00 PM PST, or 21:00 GMT. If the program is not broadcast in your area, you can listen at that time via the internet by going to www.mbn.org
==================
THURSDAY AUGUST 17: 6:30 PM
Shalom from Jerusalem.
Below is my latest commentary for the World Net Daily web site, to be published soon. In it I take a look at the important question of who won the 34 day war between Israeli and Hizbullah forces, and especially why Israeli political and military leaders seemed to wage the war in a manner that many here considered half-hearted at best—an issue, among others, that will be examined by a special committee set up today by Defense Minister Amir Peretz.
My commentary comes after the Lebanese government made clear earlier today that it will not even attempt to disarm the rogue Shiite militia, which is a major violation of the UN ceasefire mandate. Despite this, IDF forces continue to slowly evacuate south Lebanon as Lebanese army units entered the area today for the first time since Yasser Arafat took over the border zone and set up a mini-state to attack northern Israel in the 1970s. The Lebanese government’s refusal to upset the country’s delicate religious and ethnic balance by disarming the illegal militia—even though it formally accepted the UN ceasefire resolution to do so earlier this week—could easily halt efforts to establish a viable United Nations force in the region led by France, which is now balking at sending its men into harms way, as it did with disastrous results in the early 1980s. This may force Israel to freeze its troop pullback, setting the stage for further clashes with Hizbullah fighters in the coming weeks.
All this comes as Defense Minister Peretz revealed today that IDF military commanders played down the Hizbullah threat when briefing him after he came into office last Spring. As some of my readers can testify, it is a shame that the Labor party leader wasn’t in one of my international audiences then, when I was detailing that very threat, and explaining why it would probably have to be dealt with very soon.
One technical note: I have used the WND spelling for the Shiite militia below instead of the usual spelling that I employ, which is shared by the Jerusalem Post and other media outlets. The fact is the name is in Arabic, and so any English spelling is merely a rendering. This problem often crops up with Hebrew names and words as well.
A phone interview about the conflict that I conducted with New Zealand’s Shine television network has been airing in that lovely country today. It will also be repeated on Friday afternoon at 1:30 PM on the Shine Nzone FOCUS program.
==================
AUGUST 21, 5:30 PM
With tens of thousands of Israeli soldiers still stationed in southern Lebanon, and with senior army leaders warning that fighting with Hizbullah forces could resume at any time (possibly assisted by Lebanese army units now being deployed in south Lebanon), fierce dissent continues to mount in Israel over how government and military leaders have handled the war so far in Lebanon. At a tense meeting yesterday in the coastal town of Hadera, which was struck by Hizbullah rockets during the 34 day conflict, hundreds of officers and servicemen from the elite Alexandroni brigade hurled charges of ineptitude against IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz. One reserve solider held up a banner declaring “YOU PREVENTED US FROM WINNING.” Military analysts said it was it was the first time in Israel’s modern history that an entire reserve brigade had staged such a protest against senior IDF commanders. This came as retiring General Yossi Heiman, who commanded the paratroopers and infantry units in the Lebanon conflict, publicly stated that military leaders were “guilty of the sin of arrogance” in their conduct of the war.
On the political front, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert continues his attempts at damage control over his handling of the war. This comes as dozens of members of the Alexandroni brigade marched to Jerusalem today to stage a protest outside of his office, demanding his immediate resignation. During a tour today of areas heavily damaged in the north of Israel during the nearly five week daily rocket barrage, Olmert said that previous governments (meaning Ariel Sharon’s) knew about the dangers lurking in the north, but did nothing about it. “We knew what Iran and Syria were doing in arming Hizbullah, but we acted as if we didn’t know,” he said. Many of Olmert’s critics say he likewise did not adequately deal with the core issue that he mentioned, Syrian frontline support for Hizbullah, backed by Iran.
The besieged Premier was pressured at Sunday’s cabinet meeting to consider appointing an official State Commission of Enquiry to examine the conduct of the war, which would have legal powers to subpoena witnesses and bring formal legal charges against government and military leaders if deemed necessary. So far Olmert has only agreed to the establishment of a lesser panel headed by one of his political cronies, former army general Amnon Liptkin-Shahak, which convened for the first time on Sunday. Meanwhile a move to replace Defense Minister Amir Peretz as Labor party leader is gaining steam, led by two disgruntled Labor Knesset members.
While the Israeli political pot continues to boil, IDF commanders are warning that fresh fighting could erupt in the coming months, or even weeks, due to stepped up Syrian and Iranian attempts to rearm their Lebanese Shiite proxy force. They say that despite the fact that UN resolution 1701 called for a total arms embargo against Hizbullah, the two rogue states have increased efforts over the past few days to supply more rockets and other weapons to their puppet militia force. This reality was behind the late Friday IDF commando raid deep into the Bekaa Valley near Syrian territory, which Lebanon called a violation of the ceasefire. Israeli officials shot back that it was Beirut that was violating the ceasefire by refusing to disarm Hizbullah fighters while turning a blind eye to Syria’s re-supply activities. Israeli military leaders have asked the government for permission to bomb any trucks suspected of carrying weapons into Lebanon, even though they acknowledged this could give Hizbullah an excuse to resume rocket attacks upon northern Israel. At the same time, the IDF says that a naval blockade of Lebanon—mainly designed to keep Syrian and Iranian military supplies from arriving by sea—will continue for at least the next few weeks. All this comes as attempts to set up a viable UN buffer force continue to move ahead at an extremely slow pace, due mainly to France’s last minute decision to barely participate in the international force.
IRAN IN VIEW
While focusing on the highly volatile situation in Lebanon, Israeli officials are also keeping a wary eye on dramatic developments in Iran. Senior IDF officers told Israeli reporters that the military is keeping close tabs on a huge Iranian military exercise taking place in nearly half of the Islamic country’s 30 provinces. Alarm bells rang Sunday when the extremist regime tested 10 missiles dubbed as “Lightning” in Farsi. Although relatively short range (estimated to be between 50 to 180 miles), the missiles could hit many parts of Israel if fired from Lebanese or Syrian territory.
Officials also remain on alert over Iran’s declared intentions to give a “surprise” answer tomorrow to the UN demand that it halt its nuclear enrichment program. While internet sights have been abuzz with speculation that Iran might fire a nuclear tipped long-range missile at Israel—due in part to President Ahmadinejad’s enigmatic statement that the sky over Jerusalem would “glow with light” on that date—most Israeli analysts strongly doubt that Iran is anywhere near that far along in its nuclear weapons program. Besides, that, Israel would undoubtedly respond by wiping out Iran with its own nuclear arsenal, known to be substantial, if undeclared. Personally I would not be surprised if Iran is preparing to test a nuclear device, as the Russian defense minister reportedly told his NATO colleagues already last December, and that this could be its August 22 “answer” to the United States and other nations. This might amount to a symbolic “glow” over Jerusalem in the minds of the Iranian Shiite extremists who rule the country, since everyone knows Iran’s ultimate aim is to annihilate the world’s only Jewish state and “liberate” Jerusalem from hated Zionist rule.
I will be giving my regular weekly report on events here in Israel and the region today on the Moody Broadcasting Network’s Prime Time America program, heard on radio stations across the country. The program begins at 5:00 PM EST, which is 21:00 GMT. It can also be accessed via their web site, www.mbn.org Thanks again to all who have expressed concern over my visa situation, which could potentially end my work in Israel after 26 years. I continue to receive valuable support from here and abroad over this issue, and will update you when there is substantial news about it. Meanwhile thanks for your prayers for a satisfactory outcome.
==================
August 2006 News Summary from Jerusalem
by David Dolan
Shalom from Jerusalem
Below is my monthly Israel news review and analysis report covering events during August. It naturally focuses on the intense summer war with Hizbullah forces in Lebanon, and particularly on the political fallout here in Israel following the conflict’s inconclusive outcome. Ehud Olmert’s four month old government is under heavy pressure in the wake of the war, with its long-term survival now very much in doubt.
I am pleased to announce that my new DVD titled FOR ZION’S SAKE will be airing three times this autumn on the Sky Angel Two satellite channel, based in Florida. As per the networks request, I will be sending out a press release with full details a bit closer to the time of broadcast. The first airing is scheduled for Saturday evening, October 7 at 9:00 PM EST (the second evening of Succot), with additional screenings in November and December. Details will also be posted soon on my web site, www.ddolan.com You can also find information there (under “David’s Schedule) about a UK speaking tour sponsored by Christian Friends of Israel beginning on 21 September, followed by a short trip to the United States to speak at a Feast of Tabernacles conference in North Carolina.
THE COST OF WAR
It became increasingly apparent during August that Israel has moved into a new and frightening chapter in its long struggle to survive as a Jewish state in a sea of hostile Muslim countries. As the war with Hizbullah forces in Lebanon intensified, it was evident to most Israelis that the protracted Arab-Israeli conflict had formally mutated into an existential confrontation with at least a significant portion of the larger non-Arab Muslim world. For the first time since the 1967 Six Day War, tens of thousands of Israeli ground forces, including substantial reserve units, were sent into a battle that was not primarily the result of ongoing Palestinian demands for the withdrawal of “occupation forces” from Arab-claimed lands, and related issues like refugees and the re-division of Jerusalem. Instead, the core battle was over the very existence of a Jewish-led state in the mostly Muslim Middle East.
Israel’s latest war ended with a United Nations ceasefire on August 14. During the nearly five week conflict, Lebanese Hizbullah militia forces pummeled northern Israeli cities, towns and villages with unprecedented intensity, firing around 4,000 rockets—mostly supplied by Syria—during that time span. Nearly 1,000 landed inside heavily built up areas. Several hundred fell in the Upper Galilee town of Kiryat Shmona and in the coastal town of Nahariya, while 93 landed in Haifa and 81 in Tiberius. The rockets damaged or destroyed over 6,000 apartments and homes. Forty-three Israeli civilians, including over a dozen Arab Muslims, Christians and Druze, where killed during the massive rocket blitz. Over 4,000 others were hospitalized for injuries sustained in the attacks, 33 of them suffering permanent damage such as loss of eyesight, impaired hearing or loss of limbs, with another 68 people moderately wounded.
The IDF lost 116 regular and reserve soldiers during the conflict, over one-fourth of them in the last 70 hours of the 34 day war. Around 400 soldiers were wounded in action, many of them seriously. The two Israeli soldiers whose July 12 abduction triggered the conflict remained unaccounted for as the ceasefire went into effect.
The financial cost of the war was substantial as well. Hizbullah’s rocket assaults caused an estimated $400 million in direct property damage throughout northern Israel. With the northern third of the country virtually shut down for over one month, including 630 commercial factories and many hotels and other businesses, some $1.4 billion was lost to the economy. Overseas tourism cancellations stretching into next year will add millions more to that financial deficit. The actual cost of waging the war is estimated to have been around $500 million, said government economists.
Israeli jets responded to the daily rocket bombardments by carrying out several thousand bombing runs over many portions of Lebanon. Some 1,800 buildings were partially or completely destroyed, a majority of them in Beirut’s southern Shiite suburbs. The Lebanese government said that well over 1,000 citizens were killed in the war, claiming that most of them were civilians. Israeli officials said at least one third of the Lebanese casualties were Hizbullah militiamen and their commanders, some of whom were said to be from Iran. The IDF said that 309 Hizbullah rocket launchers were destroyed during the conflict, along with 33 tunnels constructed by the rogue militia in the six years following Israel’s May 2000 withdrawal from southern Lebanon. Additional tunnels, some of them quite elaborate, were discovered and destroyed after the ceasefire went into effect.
STANDOFF
Although the IDF has fought against the Shiite militants many times before, beginning soon after the militia was formed under Syrian and Iranian tutelage in late 1982, the main declared Hizbullah grievance in the 1980s and 90s was Israel’s military control over portions of Lebanese territory. The private militia group claimed that the July 12th cross border infiltration which sparked the latest conflict, which left eight Israeli soldiers dead and two others kidnapped, was also at least partially designed to help “liberate” the Shaba Farms area, a tiny strip of border territory that both Syria and Lebanon claim as their own. However, given that the United Nations certified that Israeli troops had pulled out of all Lebanese territory in May 2000, and that the Lebanese government had signed off on that position, it has been clear to the Israeli government and public for some time that Hizbullah’s real goals in heavily arming for war were far more insidious than just obtaining control over a tiny patch of disputed land along the international border.
As fighting intensified in late July and continued into August, war-weary Israelis were forced to acknowledge the jarring fact that for the first time in its 58 year history, the Jewish state had actually come under attack from a non-Arab Muslim country—Iran—whose declared goal is to annihilate their country. It is certainly an historic truth that the non-Arab Soviet Union waged fierce combat against tiny Israel in a very real and effective manner stretching over several decades. Still, the Communist giant only did so via military and financial support doled out to Arab countries like Egypt and Syria. The Kremlin never directly called the military shots, nor actually commanded frontline Arab armies, even if its support was a crucial factor in the Arab countries decision to go to war in both 1967 and 1973. Nor did Soviet officials ever declare or expect that their assistance to Egypt and Syria would lead to Israel’s complete destruction. However Iran’s Shiite Muslim extremist leaders do openly proclaim that Hizbullah’s armed assaults, which Tehran is believed to have largely commanded, including ordering the July 12 border infiltration, are merely the opening shots in a jihad war which they are waging to ultimately cremate the detested Zionist state.
Like the Soviet Union, Iran needs frontline Arab allies to help it achieve its diabolic goal. And so a portion of the Lebanese public, backed by the Baathist police state regime based in Damascus, acts as Iran’s puppet surrogates. Israelis understand that if their remaining declared enemies were only Arabs located in Lebanon and Syria, along with the ill-led Palestinians residing all around them, it would be relatively easy to achieve a substantial military victory. But adding Iran to the mix sends Israeli government and military officials into fits of despair, considering that Iran is a growing regional superpower possessing vast oil reserves, led by an extremist regime that openly declares its undying determination to eliminate what the late Ayatollah Khomeini called, “the Zionist cancerous tumor in our midst.” Given the furious Islamic-based militancy displayed by Iran’s theocratic regime, and especially its dogged determination to acquire nuclear weapons, Israeli political and military leaders are slowly waking up to the fact that they are probably facing their most nefarious enemy ever—and that nearly 60 years after Israel miraculously reappeared on the world stage.
POST WAR TRAUMA
As I reported in last month’s news review, Hizbullah’s unprovoked cross border attack galvanized the nation in a way not seen since the start of the 1982 “Peace for Galilee” operation to push Yasser Arafat’s armed PLO forces away from the northern border. However after it became clear that the 1982 campaign would not be the quick and relatively easy one that was widely anticipated, public sentiment began to slowly turn against that war. In the latest conflict, it took barely one month before many politicians and commentators began to question many aspects of the war, especially how government and military leaders conducted it. Most of the controversy surrounding the original Lebanon war fell upon then Defense Minister Ariel Sharon. This time around, the arrows seem to be equally spilt between government and military leaders. In fact, some Israeli commentators say they seriously doubt that the Kadima-led government will survive the growing political firestorm.
Public discontent over how government and military officials handled the war bubbled to the surface soon after UN ceasefire resolution 1701 went into effect on the 10th of August. Just over one week later, Israel’s most respected media commentator, Amos Harel, wrote a scathing editorial sharply criticizing the government’s handling of the conflict. Under the title “Why Did These Soldiers Die?” the veteran Haaretz commentator focused on the fact that nearly one-forth of the war’s IDF casualties, some 32 men and one woman, perished in the 60 hours after the ceasefire resolution was approved at UN headquarters in New York.
Like many Israelis, Harel wondered why Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz ordered ground forces into the deadliest battles of the war just after Olmert publicly announced on Friday evening, August 7th, that his government would probably abide by the American and French-brokered ceasefire call. Harel’s conclusions were not welcomed by Israel’s political and military establishment. He wrote that blame should be shared by the Olmert government and by top and mid-range military leaders: “The political leadership’s understanding of the battlefront was minimal, but they still sought a victory to wave at the war's end; the General Staff demanded to ‘blow off built-up steam’ and allow the forces to move forward; while the division command was dying to show what it could do.” In the end, he wrote, the army was not able to achieve most of the government’s stated military goals due to the short time alloted for them to act before the ceasefire went into effect.
Many Israeli commentators and right-wing politicians echoed Harel in pointing
to the fact that the Hizbullah war was fought by political leaders with
little or no personal military experience. This led to growing calls for
both Olmert
and Peretz to immediately resign, along with Armed Forces Chief Dan Halutz,
who was accussed af relying far too much on air power to achieve the war’s
goals. The fact that he previously served as Israel’s Air Force commander
was said by many to have colored his estimations of just how successful air
strikes alone could be in decimating Hizbullah forces. Many military analysts
criticized the fact that most of the air sorties were carried out north of
the area where Hizbullah rockets were actually being fired daily at Israeli
civilian centers. That many apartment buildings were struck in the southern
suburbs of the capital city, most of them of questionable strategic value,
was also criticized, with many saying the action only provided international
media outlets with a plethora of damaging pictures to broadcast around the
world.
THE BATTLE IS NOT WON
Both Olmert and Peretz confidently proclaimed early on in the conflict that Hizbullah’s offensive power would be quickly crushed by superior IDF forces. Such boasting was echoed by several senior IDF commanders. Many later admitted that their statements reflected an arrogance that was not matched by the facts on the ground. Just how deeply Hizbullah was and is entrenched in Lebanese society (with Shiite Muslims comprising an estimated 35% of the population; growing every year due to the relatively high Shiite birth rate compared to Sunni Muslims and Maronite Catholics) was apparently significantly underestimated by most Israeli political and military leaders, charged various commentators. And given that the militia’s main ground forces were stationed in southern Lebanon, and not in Beirut or the eastern Bekaa Valley, it was clear to many military experts early on in the conflict that a major ground operation north of the international border was unavoidable, even if this was apparently not immediately evident to Olmert, Peretz and Halutz.
Defense Minister Peretz claimed after the ceasefire went into effect that military leaders had not adequately briefed him on the overall Hizbullah threat, nor on the strength of the nefarious group. This was dismissed by senior IDF officers, who said they had pointed out to him when he assumed office last April that mushrooming Hizbullah militia forces could not be allowed to gather strength forever without being confronted by Israel. The controversial Peretz statement only added to calls for him to either resign or be quickly replaced by someone with greater military experience and comprehension, especially in light of official security assessments that renewed fighting with Hizbullah and/or Syrian forces could break out again at any time, and amid growing indications that an Israeli military showdown with Iran itself may be drawing near, given Tehran’s late August announcement that it will defy the international community and carry on with its nuclear program. Meanwhile Peretz is facing a new internal challenge to his position as Labour party leader, led by disgruntled Labour Knesset members Ami Ayalon and former Tel Aviv University President Avishai Braverman.
In an attempt to pacify calls for his resignation, Ehud Olmert agreed in mid-August to set up an investigative committee headed by one of his political cronies, former IDF chief of staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak. After that move was deemed insufficient by many critics, the Premier indicated he might turn the matter over to a formal State Commission of Inquiry, headed by a Supreme Court judge, which would be empowered to subpoena witnesses and issue binding judicial conclusions. However this was considered politically risky by senior Kadima politicians, who feared that their new centrist party might disintegrate if such a state commission came down hard on the government’s performance, as most expect it would. This prompted Olmert to announce on August 28th that he would not establish a fully independent official state commission, but would instead appoint a beefed up panel to look into the government’s handling of the war, and another to investigate the IDF leadership’s role. The decision was immediately criticized as insufficient by many opposition politicians, along with several Labour party Knesset members.
Kadima is already reeling from the fact that its leader has felt it politically necessary to back away from the main issue that the party ran on in last March’s national election—pushing forward with unilateral civilian uprootings from several dozen Jewish communities located inside of Judaism’s biblical heartland, Judea and Samaria. Opinion polls now show that, in the wake or this summer’s massive rocket assaults from southern Lebanon and continuing Palestinian Kassam strikes from the evacuated Gaza Strip, a vast majority of Israeli voters are horrified at the likely prospect that such abandoned land would become new launching pads for hostile rocket fire on Israel’s nearby central cities. Olmert quickly realized that he would be finished politically if he clung to his controversial withdrawal plan in the face of such understandable public anxiety.
Many political analysts are pointing out that it is unprecedented for an Israeli government that is barely four months old to face so many calls for its dissolution, coming from all political spectrums. That the calls reflect widespread public sentiment became evident when several opinion polls were released in late August. One survey broadcast by Israel’s Channel Two showed that the right-wing Likud party and the immigrant Yisrael Beiteinu party would more than double their current Knesset strength if elections were held today, with each capturing 24 seats. That is a huge jump from the 12 seat won by the Likud last March, and the 11 secured by Yisrael Beiteinu. Olmert’s ruling Kadima party would drop from 29 seats to just 14, and the once dominant Labour party from 19 to an embarrassing 9 seats. But another poll found that Labour could capture 20 seats if the inexperienced Peretz were replaced by popular former IDF chief of staff Moshe Ya’alon. An Israel Radio survey showed that 29% of the public preferred Ya’alon as defense minister, while 17% named Kadima politician and former defense minister Shaul Mofaz. Only 5% named Peretz as their first choice. All of the opinion polls projected that right of center parties would capture a clear majority of the Knesset’s 120 seats if elections were held now, whoever led the parties.
IS THE WAR REALLY OVER?
The question of who is ruling Israel and commanding IDF military forces is obviously highly important even in relatively tranquil times. But with the situation still incredibly unstable in southern Lebanon—where over 20,000 IDF soldiers are facing an unknown, but substantial number of armed Hizbullah militiamen—military analysts warn that full-scale fighting could erupt at any time. This is all the more likely given that the Lebanese government is refusing to order its army to disarm Hizbullah fighters, augmented by the fact that the expanded 15,000 man European-led UNIFIL force is taking much longer than anticipated to assemble and move to the region (many analysts said the slow pace was precisely due to the fact that hundreds of Hizbullah fighters, who are intensely hostile to the West, remain in place with their weapons).
Israeli military analysts say the greatest threat to the tenuous ceasefire is Syria and Iran’s refusal to halt illegal weapons shipments to their proxy Lebanese force. Although UN resolution 1701 calls for such arms transfers to be frozen, the Assad regime in Damascus is balking at Israel’s demand that UN forces assist Lebanese army troops in searching all trucks, ships and aircraft entering Lebanese territory for contraband weapons. This came after Syrian dictator Bashar Assad announced in a fiery post-war speech that he is ready to take back the Golan Heights by force if necessary, probably signaling that Israel’s next military challenge—and one that is far more daunting than the battle with Lebanese Hizbullah fighters—is already looming on the horizon.
Although the future looks incredibly bleak in the crisis-plagued Middle
East, the God of Israel still rules over all the earth. He knows the plans
and
purposes that He has for His people, to give us a much brighter future
and abundant hope: “It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things;
He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him” (Daniel
2:22).
Resources click panel tab below to see more ...
For a general listing of books, visit the WindowView Book Page for: Science and Scripture.
How does one really see the deeper informational side to Scripture? We recommend “footsteps” as the source for seeing the the truly functional details in Scripture.
G. Fruchtenbaum, Th.M., Ph.D.1982. Footsteps of Messiah - A Study of the Sequence of Prophetic Events. (Second ed. 2003)
THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE MESSIAH
A Study of the Sequence of Prophetic Events
Dr. Fruchtenbaum gathers the many pieces of the prophetic puzzle and places them in sequential order with the result summed up by Dr. Charles Ryrie in his foreword: "Those who read this book cannot help but be instructed and stimulated by his work." Footsteps is detailed, thorough and scholarly, yet written in a style that the average reader can easily understand. With a wealth of wisdom drawn from his Jewish background and extensive research, the author even tackles the "problem passages" to provide a comprehensive overview of the entire range of prophetic truth.
Over thirty years of teaching Eschatology since the original writing of this book has given Dr. Fruchtenbaum further reflections on some passages. He has added five new appendices to the book.
Obtain this book via Amazon.com (click on book icon above), or order direct from
publisher.
Hardcover (880 pp.) ... $35.00
ISBN: 0-914863-09-6
