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The Development of Israel’s War Contingency Evacuation Zone

Supplement to Archive Updates 5 to 11

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August 27, 2005

The article which follows is the latter half of an essay from the JPost Online by Avrum Ehrlich, who is a Professor of Jewish Philosophy at Shandong University, China.

I urge you to read our Archive Prophecy Updates 1 through 11, which describe the great purpose and plan for the botanical future of the great Negev Wilderness

of the Bible.

BEGIN JERUSALEM POST ARTICLE

Essay: Now, Can We Make the Negev Bloom?

By Avrum Ehrlich, THE JERUSALEM POST

August 25, 2005

DEVELOPING THE Negev has long been recognized as one of Israel’s top national missions. I urge a concerted effort to enlist the former Gaza settlers to this mission.

Their political leadership, rabbis, ideologues and activists should be mobilized – as communities – to make the Negev flourish.

Low-key requests won’t do the trick; there has to be a national campaign to convince the Gaza settlers to take on this project.

If presented as one of the most important national undertakings

of the generation, as one of the tenets of Zionism, and explained as a mission that will remain a priority into the future, this call has the potential to harness the visionary ambition of the Gaza settlers.

Israel’s leadership must admit what we all know: Only a community of faith, comprised of determined, selfless people, possesses the wherewithal to achieve this mission. I’d like to believe that such a project could capture the imagination of thousands of former Gazan Jews.

Why not imagine what Gush Katif’s farmers – indeed entire Gaza communities – could do for the Negev? After all, the Negev is also part of Greater Israel.
The messianic imagery of making the desert bloom resonates profoundly with religious sensibilities, and has the potential to substitute for the euphoria surrounding Judea, Samaria

and other biblical areas.

Filling the vacuum created by disengagement and redirecting religious energies to the task of grooming the Negev may be the right combination of social, religious and psychological ingredients to neutralize the impending post-Gaza crisis. It could harness the enthusiasm

of a community which has otherwise lost its sense of purpose.

The romance associated with sowing the desert resonates with religious Jews and settlers.

The Negev’s messianic associations could reflect their ideal

s. That potential should not be underestimated, nor should the settlers’ zeal be wasted.

The Jews of Gaza are uniquely suited to pioneer the Negev. Theirs is a strong ethos of self-sacrifice. They are a tightly knit group. They know agriculture and science. They’ve shown an ability to develop strong community institutions – educational, public health and social – under remarkably adverse conditions.

IF GIVEN the support of the state and international benefactors, if implored to sacrifice yet again on behalf of the Jewish people, if this request were genuinely supported across the entire political spectrum of the Israeli public, the former settlers of Gush Katif plus other people of vision could be prevailed upon to transfer their sense of anger, frustration and betrayal with the state into something that would be positive for the Negev and – not least – for themselves.

Considerable resources should be directed to the rehabilitation of the people who could ideally carry it out. Only great and ambitious schemes can harness their enthusiasm. There could be water desalination projects, a Med-Red canal, science parks, dams and reservoirs.

It is of utmost importance that the project succeed, and

that the religious ideology behind that success be vindicated.

Perhaps some of the anticipated funding for post-disengagement logistics could be used to immediately re-ignite a downcast community and provide it with the support to realize some of its most heartfelt religious aspirations.

This could even cause the Gaza pullout to eventually be seen as a blessing in disguise.

What they might accomplish would reverberate across Israel, world Jewry and the international community. Jews reviled in the international media would be given their pride and dignity back. Their unfair status as pariahs would be transformed; they’d be important, appreciated agents of development and innovative nationalism.

This is a constructive and intelligent way to deal with the thousands of settlers and their hundreds of thousands of supporters. Instead of repressing their enthusiasm, it can be beneficially channeled.

I can only hope that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Vice Premier Shimon Peres (who has the mandate for developing Galilee and the Negev) recognize the wisdom of this idea. They’d be making a match that would allow some of the damage done to Israel’s best human resources to be repaired.

The writer is a professor of Jewish philosophy at Shandong University, China. He has written books on messianism and articles regarding the future of Jewish peoplehood, and is editor of The Encyclopedia of

the Jewish Diaspora.

END JERUSALEM POST ARTICLE

STORMY WEATHER UNTIL PA DISARMS TERRORIST GROUPS

August 26, 2005

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If the PA does not show any tangible signs of disarming the in-country terrorist groups, Israel will deal directly and harshly with the terrorist groups while they continue the disengagement process. Once the security barrier/fence/ wall is completed they will force the PA and their terror groups to go inside it.

And after a brief period of horrific reprisals for any terrorist acts performed outside the wall the terrorists will finally get the message, and the false peace and security phase will begin.

One way or the other, a false peace is coming in.

The two articles that follow were taken from the Jerusalem Center Public Affairs Daily Alert of August 25, and give an insight to the current and anticipated events.

State Department Article Begins

United States Says PA Must Disarm Terrorist Groups

Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch said Wednesday that it is critical that the Palestinian Authority disarm Hamas and other terrorist organizations in order to take advantage of the opportunity for progress toward peace presented by the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

“In the road map, there is a requirement to take steps toward the dismantlement of the terror organizations.

Hamas is for us a terror organization. I would expect that the PA

would do those things.

We have made those requirements clear to them,” Welch said. “Security is the beginning, the middle and the end, and security cannot be had either for the people in those areas or for those who live around them if there is a variety of armed organizations that are allowed to operate.” (State Department)

Ha’aretz Article Begins

After a stormy week of disengagement, Israel and the U.S. appear to see eye

to eye on the next stage.

Israel has proven its determination in carrying out the pullout from Gaza, and now the Palestinians must implement the required reforms.

The message was clearly spelled out in telephone calls from Washington to Ramallah in the past days. No one in Wash

ington is expecting real peace talks until after the elections next year in the PA and Israel.

(Ha’aretz)

SHOW & TELL GAME IN ISRAEL!

Israel has SHOWN Its Willingness!

Only Time will TELL What the Terror Groups Do!

August 25, 2005

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The recent flurry of high level meetings between Syrian & Iranian Presidents, the Palestinian Authority & the Syrian President, and the PA & numerous terror groups headquartered in Damascus, will have their decisions manifested in the future actions by the in-country terrorist groups against Israel.

Only they and God know what they actually decided as a future course behind doors closed to the rest of the world. I have always believed they would finally come to the conclusion the only way they could ever meet their true objective of driving Israel out of the land from Dan to Beersheba, was to lull Israelis into a false sense of security prior to launching a lightning Jihad by a great consolidation of ten Arab nations.

If, and when, they finally reach such a conclusion, we will see major in-country terror attacks drop to a minimum until

they can consolidate their strength for an all out Jihad blitz.

If, as Israel continues its removal of West Bank settlements, terrorist groups turn to strengthening their positions within the Palestinian Authority, this may be the prelude for such a scenario.

Once we see the security barrier/fence/wall completed, and the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades enclosed within it, then I believe we will finally hear the Israelis say “peace and safety” for the first time since 70 AD. As I indicated in the previous BLOG, we are in for a lot of haggling in the coming months between Israelis and all their in-country opponents, but I am hopeful the internal positioning for power among the Palestinians will cause a decline in terrorist attacks against the Israeli population.

I Thessalonians 5:3,4 – For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

[4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

The following two articles were taken from the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs Daily Alert, August 24, 2004.

Article One Begins
Israel Says Onus is now on Palestinians – Steven Gutkin
Israel has redrawn its borders before the world’s eyes, completing with dazzling speed its pullout from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank.

“We disengaged the people from the land in the Gaza Strip and the northern part of the West Bank. Now it’s the Palestinians’ turn to disengage themselves from violence and terror,” said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Gideon Meir. Once Palestinians begin reining in their militants, “we can start to talk about the final status of the territories,” he said. If Gaza becomes Hamas-stan, as many Israelis fear, few will expect Israel to hand over more territory.

(AP/Washington Post)
Article One Ends

Article Two Begins
Bush: “Progress Toward Peace Depends on an End to Terror”
President Bush said Monday: “This past week, Prime Minister Sharon and the Israeli people took a courageous and painful step by beginning to remove settlements in Gaza and parts of the northern West Bank. The Israeli disengagement is an historic step that reflects the bold leadership of Prime Minister Sharon. Both Israelis and Palestinians have elected governments committed to peace and progress, and the way forward is clear.

We’re working for a return to the road map. We’re helping the Palestinians to prepare for self-government and to defeat terrorists who attack Israel, and terrorists who oppose the establishment of a peaceful Palestinian state.

We’re providing $50 million in direct assistance to the Palestinians for new housing and infrastructure projects in Gaza.”

“We remain fully committed to defending the security and well-being of our friend and ally, Israel, and we demand an end to terrorism and violence in every form, because we know that progress toward peace depends on an end to terror. We’ll continue working for the day when the map of the Middle East shows two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side in peace and security.” (White House)
Article Two Ends

Full Speed Ahead Toward a False Peace!

August 24, 2005

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The following extracts from an exclusive report in the Jerusalem Post

by Herb Keinon indicates that the government intends to “strike while the iron is hot” to remove the numerous settlements established without Israeli government approval.

Like many other things in prophecy, it sometimes takes a very long time to get the ball rolling, but it now seems to be happening rapidly in the Middle East.

There will be off again, on again, gone again, Finnigan episodes during the coming months, but it does appear that by 2007 Israel’s security barrier/wall/fence will be in place. The P alestini

ans, with all their terrorist groups, will be enclosed and disengaged within it from the Israelis. To definitely state precisely the year the initial attack outlined in the following Scriptures will occur would be madness on my part.

However, it will definitely occur, and my guesstimate is 2007. It could happen before or after, but I do not think it is some prophetic event scheduled for the distant future.

I Thessalonians 5:3,4 – For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. [4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

Zechariah 13:8 – And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

Revelation 12:6 – And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God,

that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Zechariah 13:9 – And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.

BEGIN EXTRACTS FROM JERUSALEM POST ARTICLE

Exclusive: Illegal Settlements are Next

By Herb Keinon, THE JERUSALEM POST

August 23, 2005

Israel is likely to begin dismantling unauthorized settlements in the We

st Bank within 90 days of the evacuation of the northern Samaria settlements, a senior government official told The Jerusalem Post.

According to the official, the evacuation of the Gaza settlements has “changed the rules of the game,” both in regard to Israel’s expected reaction to any Palestinian terrorist attacks – which Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has said would be harsher than in the past – and also in regard to the unauthorized settlements.

The official referred to a “momentum” that had been established over the last few days that the IDF was keen to capitalize upon.

A few months ago, before the Gaza evacuation, dismantling the outposts appeared to some as an almost inconceivable task.

The official said the idea behind removing the outposts that are spread throughout the West Bank now was to “strike while the iron was still hot.”
The unauthorized settlements, of which 24 have been established since Sharon took office in 2001, have been a constant irritant for Israel in its ties with both the US and Europe.

The US, however, stopped publicly pressing Israel about the outposts late last year, deciding instead to focus on ensuring the implementation of the disengagement plan. The Bush administration made it clear to Israeli officials that it was not interested in complicating matters domestically for Sharon at that time.

Sharon promised US President George W.

Bush at the Aqaba summit in June 2003 that Israel would remove the unauthorized outposts.

In April 2004, in his now-famous exchange of letters with Bush, Sharon wrote that he was “fully aware of the responsibilities facing the State

of Israel. These include limitation on the growth of settlements [and] removal of unauthorized outposts.”
One official said Sharon was keen on upholding his commitment because he wanted to ensure that Bush would stand by the assurances he gave Israel in his letter: namely that, in any final status agreement, Israel would retain the major settlement blocs and that there could be no return of Palestinian refugees to pre-1967 Israel.

END EXTRACTS FROM JERUSALEM POST ARTICLE

The months to come will find constant haggling between the Israelis and the Palestinians on many issues, but the main five will be:

1. Letting the Palestinians have part of Jerusalem for a capital city.

2. The number of settlements to be evacuated in the West Bank.

3. The right of all Palestinians to return to the West Bank and Gaza.

4. The right to unmonitored air space over the West Bank and Gaza.

5. Unmonitored road between the West Bank and Gaza.

Terror & Jihad Planning – Iran, Syria, and th

e PA

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

August 23, 2005

The movement between the Syrian and Iranian Presidents, followed by PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei’s visit to Syria, which was reported in the last BLOG, has been topped off by Qurei meeting with Hamas and Islamic Jihad at their headquarters in Damascus. It will be interesting to see if they have decided to lull Israel into a false sense of security by lying back from large in-country terrorist acts for awhile. There is no question that Russia and the European Union will apply pressure to get Israel to make even greater concessions to the Palestinians.

I can only hope that the United States will not do so. The Palestinians have done nothing to control the terrorist activity, which they said they would do if Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip. They have given up nothing, but expect to inherit a land that never really belonged to them. I am very satisfied, from a prophetic standpoint, with the scenario now developing in the Middle East, because I am convinced it will eventually lead to the false peace of I Thessalonians 5:3,4.

BEGIN JERUSALEM POST ARTICLE

PA Won’t Disarm Hamas, Islamic Jihad

By Khaled Abu Toameh, THE JERUSALEM POST

August 22, 2005

Hamas and Islamic Jihad announced on Monday that they have reached an agreement with the Palestinian Authority according to which the two groups would not be disarmed.

The agreement was reportedly achieved during talks in Damascus between PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Qurei met on Sunday night in Damascus with leaders of various radical groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and discussed with them ways of cooperati

on after the disengagement.

Sources close to the two groups said Qurei made it clear that the PA would not confiscate the weapons of any of the armed

groups in the Gaza Strip.

Musa Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas leader based in Syria, said the meeting was held in a “cordial atmosphere” and that the two sides agreed that the Palestinians should have a joint strategy after the disengagement.

“We stressed during the meeting that the Palestinians have the right to continue the resistance [against Israel] and that there would be no attempt to collect weapons from the resistance groups,” he added.
“The weapons of the resistance were founded to defend

the Palestinian people and resist the occupation. The Gaza victory was achieved with the weapons of the resistance, which is the only strategy to drive Israel out of the rest of our lands.”

Qurei met earlier with Syrian President Bashar Assad and discussed with him the Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip

and northern West Bank.

Qurei briefed Assad on Israel’s settlement expansion in the West Bank and Jerusalem,

and

the ongoing preparations of the PA for the aftermath of the disengagement, the Syrian news agency Sana reported.

“Gaza is a part of Palestine, and there will be no calm until the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital,” Qurei told reporters after the meeting.

Qurei lauded Syrian-Palestinian relations, which, he said, are based on “full cooperation and consultation.”

Meanwhile, PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Monday told a European envoy that the Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip was not enough and that Israel should withdraw to the pre-1967 borders.

Abbas, who met in his office in Gaza City with European Union Middle East envoy Mark Otteh, called for international pressure on Israel after the disengagement to revive the peace process and implement the road map plan.

Abbas met over the past 24 hours with US, Russian and United Nations officials and also urged them to put pressure on Israel to withdraw from the entire West Bank and east Jerusalem and to stop the construction of the security fence.

Nabil Abu Rudaineh, a spokesman for Abbas, said the Quartet, which consists of the US, Russia, the EU and the UN, is working toward ensuring a smooth Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank.

He said the Quartet was also seeking ways of helping the Palestinians rebuild the Gaza Strip and that its representatives would meet in New York next month to discuss providing financial aid to the PA.

The EU emissary said after the meeting with Abbas that Europe would help the Palestinians improve their living conditions and boost their economy to create jobs for the unemployed.

He pointed out that the EU has already provided the PA with $500 million for various projects in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jerusalem.

END JERUSALEM POST ARTICLE