The Lamb Led to the Slaughter!
May 17, 2007
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
Please read the first DEBKAfile Exclusive Article Dated May 13, and then read the second Jerusalem Post Article Dated May 16. Notice the effect Washingtonâ
€™ s
directives are having on Israeli Policies. First read the last two paragraphs of the DEBKAfile Exclusive, and then read paragraphs 3, 4, and 5 of Jerusalem Post Article 2. It is apparent the Prime Minister is following the dictates of Washington. Israel should be deciding their military responses to
the actions of terrorists in the Gaza Strip, not the United States. Israeli understanding of appropriate ways to deal with terrorist attacks in the Middle East appears to have a better track record than that of the United States. Jerusalem Post Article 3 is the latest report of IAF strikes in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas in Gaza and Hizbullah in southern Lebanon have been able to bring in multi-thousands of different types of rockets and missles by trucks across the Syrian border into Lebanon, and through tunnels out of from Egypt (Sinai) into Gaza. Hizbullah has boasted they will be able to send 3,000 rockets a day into Israel. This scenario certainly blends with the picture Isaiah paints of
the final tribulation war in Israel. One can almost see the Israelis in their inner chambers, with all their doors shut, as the rockets whistle overhead.
Isaiah 26:17-21 – Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O Lord. [18] We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen. [19] Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
[20] Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. [21] For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.
Jeremiah 30:7-11 – Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. [8] For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him: [9] But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them. [10] Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the Lord; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid. [11] For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.
Article 1 – Begin May 13 DEBKAfile Exclusive
DEBKAfile Exclusive: Washington forbids Israeli anti-missile offensive in Gaza, wants issue determined by special US military delegation – not IDF
May 13, 2007, 2:24 PM (GMT+02:00)
Therefore, there was not much point in the prime minister calling the national security cabinet into special session Sunday to decide on military action against ongoing Qassam missile attacks from Gaza and the Hamas war build-up.
The chief of staff and heads of the Shin Bet, Mossad and national security council were present. Some ministers echoed popular demands for an expanded military incursion into the Gaza Strip to put an end to the daily missile attacks against Ashkelon and Sderot, and destroy the war infrastructure Hamas is building up on Israel’s southwestern border.
Prime minister Ehud Olmert, FM Tzipi Livni and defense minister Amir Peretz talked them down.
On the recommendation of Lt.
Gen. Keith G. Dayton, US security coordinator, instructions from Washington reached Jerusalem last week, according to DEBKAfile’s sources in the US capital, forbidding the launch of a ground offensive or any other major military operation in Gaza.
To hold the Israeli government to this directive, the Bush administration will be sending an military delegation to Israel this week, to survey the damage caused by the Palestinian missiles and draw up guidelines for dealing with them.
Olmert’s assent to the US government determining what form the IDF’s response to the Palestinian missile blitz from Gaza should take has left Israel’s security and military establishments aghast. They are furious at being summoned to a phony debate in the cabinet Sunday, purportedly for a hearing at long last of their plans to quell the threats building up from Gaza.
DEBKAfile’s military sources report their plan is based essentially on in-and-out incursions for the pursuit of terrorists and missile-launchers, the destruction of war materiel and infrastructure, and targeted assassinations of terrorist leaders.
Article 2 – Begin Jerusalem Post Article of May 16
Security cabinet authorizes ‘harsh’ response to Kassams
HERB KEINON and YAAKOV KATZ, THE JERUSALEM POST
May 16, 2007
Israel will respond in a “harsh and severe” manner to the barrage of Kassam attacks on Sderot, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert decided Wednesday, essentially putting an end to Israel’s policy of restraint that has been in effect for more than six months.
The decision to significantly ratchet up Israel’s response was made at a high level meeting Olmert convened with Defense Minister Amir Peretz, Foreign Minster Tzipi Livni, Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) head Yuval Diskin and senior IDF and security officials.
Defense officials said after the meeting that targeted assassinations would be renewed, though at this point they would not be directed against Hamas political leaders, but rather against those actively involved in terrorism. Throughout the day, 21 Kassams were fired at Israel, bringing
the total number of rockets fired into Israel since Tuesday to over 40.
At the same time, government officials said that a widespread ground operation was not likely, though short-term ground forays into Gaza after specific targets was a possibility.
Following the meeting, the Prime Minister’s Office put out a statement saying that it was decided to approve a “series of actions aimed at hitting the Kassam rocket launchers and their commanders, to disrupt their ability to fire the rockets and to damage the terrorist infrastructure.”
During the meeting Olmert said that Israel could no longer show restraint in the face of the recurrent attacks. “The Hamas government is behind the terrorist action, and it is inconceivable that at the same time it is trying to get international recognition and financial assistance,” he said.
Israel’s response to the Kassam attacks was already felt Wednesday when the Air Force bombed a Hamas military installation in Rafah, the first such air strike since Israel accepted the Palestinian ceasefire in November. At least four Hamas members were killed and 30 others were wounded, some buried under the sandy rubble. Later in the day, IAF missiles struck a car carrying a Kassam squad moments after it had launched rockets at Sderot. At least one Hamas operative was killed.
A 70-year-old Sderot woman was seriously wounded Wednesday evening after three Kassam rockets were fired into Sderot with one scoring a direct hit on her home. Magen David Adom medics also treated several residents who were suffering from shock.
The elderly woman was evacuated to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon.
Defense Minister Amir Peretz ordered the Home Front Command and the Defense Ministry to set up a headquarters near Sderot and to begin coordinating plans for the evacuation of Gaza-belt communities under rocket fire. Defense officials said that Peretz did not intend to begin evacuating Sderot but that it was important to refresh the plans to allow for their immediate implementation.
Under the influence of the Winograd Committee’s interim report, Livni was invited to the consultations, something that happened only sporadically in the past. She urged those present to define Israel’s goals, and then see whether or not they could be reached through diplomatic action.
Article 3 – Second Jerusalem Post Article
IAF keeps up strikes on Gaza targets
Yaakiv Katz and JPost,com Staff, THE JERUSALEM POST
May 16, 2007
As Kassam rockets continued to pound Sderot, the IAF carried out the second air strike Wednesday against a Hamas rocket launching crew, killing one Hamas member and wounding two others as they fled in their car after firing a rocket at the Negev.
The attack came shortly after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced Israel “cannot continue to restrain itself” in the face of repeated rocket fire by Palestinian terrorists.
Earlier, at least four were killed and 30 others wounded when IAF helicopters fired three missiles at a Hamas military installation in Rafah, Palestinian medical officials reported.
The IDF said that the attack came in response to the some two-dozen Kassam rockets fired on southern Israel since Tuesday, adding that it would continue to strike terror targets in Gaza.
In strike earlier Wednesday, IAF helicopters also fired missiles at Kassam launch sites in the northern Gaza Strip.
The IDF has standing cabinet approval to strike at groups launching rockets.
And at a security cabinet meeting on Sunday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stressed that if IDF action inside the Gaza Strip beyond what had already been approved were needed, he and Defense Minister Amir Peretz
were empowered to give the green light.
Government officials said a major new tactical shift in Israel’s response to the Kassams would come, if at all, only after the security cabinet finished its discussions on the matter some time next week.
The Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement saying, “Israel today extended its hand for peace yet again, but has had it rejected by the firing of a series of barrages into Sderot, hitting schools and homes.”
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